Secondhand Smoke and You

Your not-so-clean-air

If you don’t smoke but have worked in a place where it’s permitted, you really are a smoker. “Breathing secondhand smoke in one eight-hour shift is equivalent to smoking nearly two packs a day,” says Alice Dalla Palu, executive director of the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Valley. More than 65,000 nonsmokers die yearly from heart disease and cancer caused by secondhand smoke pollution. “This is a serious public health issue.”

“Until a law is passed in Pennsylvania banning indoor smoking in public places,” Dalla Palu says, “people need to avoid secondhand smoke as much as possible.” Here’s how:

Don’t let anyone smoke in your home or car.
Patronize smoke-free restaurants. Encourage managers of restaurants that permit smoking to change their policy.
Remind your elected representatives about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Encourage them to pass clean-air legislation.

If you’re a smoker concerned about harming others, Dalla Palu says, a tobacco treatment program is an effective way to stop smoking. In the meantime, follow these guidelines to protect others from your secondhand smoke:

If you need to smoke, go outdoors.
Never smoke around children. It can lead to pneumonia, bronchitis, earaches and asthma.
Don’t smoke in the car. Even with a cracked window, invisible toxins stay in the air up to four hours after the cigarette is extinguished.

Click here for a list of smoke-free restaurants in the Lehigh Valley.

Need Help? To schedule an appointment or to find out more information, call 610-402-CARE (8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday).

This page last updated 6/13/08 02:08 PM

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