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Reference.org
Passive smoking
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<p>Passive smoking is the inhalation of <a href="/facts/Tobacco_smoke/E3HVAVxL">tobacco smoke</a>, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active <a href="/facts/Tobacco_smoking/obI4MYne">smoker</a>. It occurs when tobacco smoke <a href="/facts/Diffuse/KbAxroBa">diffuses</a> into the surrounding atmosphere as an <a href="/facts/Aerosol/X1jXFLp2">aerosol</a> <a href="/facts/Pollutant/4f9kmFzq">pollutant</a>, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same <a href="/facts/Health_effects_of_tobacco/J4WdbVWz">health effects caused by active smoking</a>, although at a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the <a href="/facts/Airway/nnG9UEmr">airway</a>. </p><p>According to a <a href="/facts/World_Health_Organization/YNN3bgug">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) report published in 2023, more than 1.3 million deaths are attributed to passive smoking worldwide every year. The health risks of secondhand smoke are a matter of <a href="/facts/Scientific_consensus/DrTWaQIy">scientific consensus</a>, and have been a major motivation for <a href="/facts/Smoking_ban/N8MVjXvE">smoking bans</a> in <a href="/facts/Workplace/RCIrBH8J">workplaces</a> and indoor venues, including <a href="/facts/Restaurant/UHmMUjln">restaurants</a>, <a href="/facts/Bar_(establishment)/fCYC4DuR">bars</a> and <a href="/facts/Night_club/krTvUzaj">night clubs</a>, as well as some open <a href="/facts/Public_space/fnGxfVCI">public spaces</a>. </p><p>Concerns around secondhand smoke have played a central role in the debate over the harms and regulation of tobacco products. Since the early 1970s, the <a href="/facts/Tobacco_industry/Rzx61l8K">tobacco industry</a> has viewed public concern over secondhand smoke as a serious threat to its business interests. Despite the industry's awareness of the harms of secondhand smoke as early as the 1980s, the tobacco industry coordinated a scientific controversy with the purpose of stopping regulation of their products.: 1242 </p>