What is Tobacco Smoke?
Tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke can lead to many health concerns.
Cigarettes
Tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke can lead to many health concerns.
Here are some definitions related to tobacco
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Tobacco | A plant with leaves containing nicotine. The leaves are dried and used for smoking. |
Prevention | To encourage communities to create environments where it is easier to make healthy choices around tobacco use. |
Protection | To eliminate exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (second-hand and third-hand smoke) and prevent young people from accessing tobacco products. |
Cessation | To encourage and assist tobacco users to stop or reduce their tobacco use. |
Tobacco Products | Any commercially produced product containing tobacco and combinations of other chemicals. To make these products, the plant is dried and additives (chemicals) are mixed with the dried plant. Examples of tobacco products are:
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Tobacco Smoke | The smoke from a burning end of a tobacco product like cigarettes, cigar, cigarillo, and pipes. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 harmful chemicals. All of these chemicals mix together to form a sticky tar. It is the tar that gives the cigarette smoke its smell and colour. Of the 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, 50 are associated with causing cancer and promoting tumour growth. Some of the other substances in tobacco smoke include carbon monoxide, nicotine, ammonia, arsenic, cyanide, and lead. |
Second-hand Smoke (SHS) | Also referred to as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). SHS is made up of the smoke from the burning end of a tobacco product and the smoke that is blown into the air by the person smoking these products. |
Third-hand Smoke (THS) | The toxic chemicals in smoke that stay in the environment even after the person has put out a burning tobacco product. These chemicals get trapped in clothes, carpets, fabric, furniture, hair, skin, and toys and can build up over time.
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Vaping Devices | A cylindrical device made of stainless steel or plastic that mimics a cigarette in terms of its appearance and use and sometimes taste, but does not contain tobacco. These devices are also sometimes referred to as vape pens, vapes, electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes.
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Infants and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of exposure to tobacco smoke because they are still maturing physically and mentally. Children absorb more smoke because they breathe faster than adults, inhale more air relative to their body weight, and have a higher metabolism than adults. The harmful products of tobacco smoke can be passed to the infant through breast milk. Young children are also exposed to third-hand smoke (THS) because they often put objects in their mouths and are crawling on the floor.
Infants and children who are exposed to tobacco smoke are at higher risk for: