Myths
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Facts
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| Getting enough distance can avoid secondhand smoke. |
When you smoke in your home or in your car, there is no safe distance between the smoke and your kids. No matter where a cigarette is smoked in your home, the entire house ends up sharing the air. |
| Opening windows and turning on fans can avoid secondhand smoke. |
Opening a window or turning on a fan can’t completely remove the poisonous chemicals in secondhand smoke from the air. In fact, not even the most expensive air cleaning systems are able to clear the air of all poisons in secondhand smoke. |
| If you can’t smell the smoke in the air, then it’s gone. |
Even if someone can’t smell secondhand smoke, they may still be breathing its poisonous toxins. Putting out a cigarette before kids get home doesn’t actually protect them from being exposed to the chemicals in secondhand smoke. |
| If people don’t smoke they are safe. |
There is no safe level of secondhand smoke for employees, and no safe period of time for exposure. When employees breathe secondhand smoke, it is as if they are smoking. Breathing secondhand smoke at work increases chances of getting lung cancer by 20% – 30% and it damages the lining of blood vessels, changes which can cause a heart attack. Workers who smoke have more accidents than nonsmokers on the job, and smoking contributes to the risk of fire and explosion. |
| I will lose money if I make a facility smoke free. |
In fact, smoking helps to save money. Smoking contributes toward absenteeism and lost productivity. Employees who smoke are absent from work 50% more often than those who don’t smoke. Since smoking is the leading cause of preventable death smoking affects insurance costs; some fire and casualty companies cut their premiums by 50% for smoke free companies. |
