Why should I be worried?

Date: 23 August 2005

Why should I be worried?

Only 15 per cent of the smoke from a cigarette is inhaled by the smoker - the rest goes into the surrounding air and other people can breathe it in. Breathing air which contains tobacco smoke can be bad for your health. This is because the tiny particles and gases in tobacco smoke contain over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are harmful - at least 60 are known to cause cancer. The gases also include carbon monoxide, the poisonous gas that comes out of car exhausts.