How does passive smoking occur? - A Guide to Stop Smoking
When a person has a cigarette it produces three types of smoke, two of which are classed as ‘secondhand smoke’.
The first type of smoke is called ‘exhaled mainstream smoke’: this is smoke which is produced when the smoker first draws upon a cigarette, and is then exhaled from his/her lungs into the air.
The second type of smoke is called ‘sidestream smoke’: this is the type of smoke you are probably familiar with, which you see drifting up into the air from the burning tip of a cigarette.
The third type of smoke is called ‘mainstream smoke’: this is inhaled into the body as normal and stays within that body. This is not a factor in passive smoking.
When you smoke a cigarette you will find that some of this smoke stays within your lungs but the rest will be exhaled into the air. Mainstream smoke does not change in terms of its composition but exhaled smoke does when it comes into contact with enzymes of the human body.
Cigarette smoke contains a wide range of chemicals such as nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide which have an adverse affect on many areas of the body.