World Health Organization
منظمة الصحة العالمية
Organisation mondiale de la Santé

Myth 2: Exposure to tobacco smoke is not harmful to health

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More than 600 000 non-smokers worldwide die each year from exposure to second-hand smoke, mostly women and children.

Tobacco smoke is not just a nuisance to non-smokers, it harms them.

Tobacco smoke contains about 4000 chemicals, more than 50 of them known to cause cancer.

Evidence has proven that while smokers get sick or die prematurely from tobacco use, non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke also get sick or die unnecessarily from heart disease, respiratory diseases and cancer.