File:Smoke-by-a-window-in-a-pub.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
passive smoking
Sign in to saveAlso known as second-hand smoke, environmental tobacco smoke, ETS, passive smoke
inhalation of smoke by persons other than the intended active smoker
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Tobacco smoke in an Irish pub before a smoking ban came into effect on 29 March 2004
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same health effects caused by active smoking, although at a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “passive smoking” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.