Most people know about the dangers of cigarette smoking, thanks in large part to increased efforts to educate the public.
Smoking is estimated to be the single largest cause of preventable deaths in the United States.
What many people are less aware of though, is that tobacco can pose risks to your health even if you are not the one doing the smoking. Environmental tobacco smoke or ETS, refers to the smoke that is released in the air when a smoker exhales, combined with the smoke released from a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe. It found that ETS causes about 3,000 deaths from lung cancer each year in the United States. It also stated that passive smoking is an important cause of respiratory illness. Children who live with a smoker are especially at risk for health problems.