The damage caused by the second-hand smoke is no less than the first-hand smoke. The non-smoking women and children often fall victim to the second-hand smoke. Every year, smoking causes the death of 18000 women, either directly or indirectly. The mortality rate of women due to pulmonary cancer is very high, showing the harmful effects of the second-hand smoke.

　　The second-hand smoke contains more than four thousand different chemical particles and gases. As a matter of fact, the concentration of some harmful substances in the second-hand smoke is even higher than the smoke that is inhaled into the smoker's lungs. Therefore, a non-smoker's health is in serious jeopardy when being exposed in the second-hand smoke environment.

　　In the U.S., the second-hand smoke is ranked number three among the preventable causes of death, right behind smoking and alcohol abuse. According to a survey made by the U.S. Department of Public Health in 1988, four hundred thirty thousand people die from smoking-related diseases, one hundred ten thousand of those die from lung cancer, and fifty three thousand die from second-hand smoking.

　　In the recent years, the number of smokers has been increasing in Taiwan, so the chance of being exposed to second-hand smoke is also getting greater. Survey shows that more than forty percent of children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home, and more than half of people are exposed by the second-hand smoke in public places. This is a serious problem that demands attention.

　　The followings are circumstances of second-hand smoke attack:

　　In order to meet the needs of the customers who smoke, and to prevent non-smokers from inhaling the second-hand smoke, there are more and more indoor facilities equipped with smoking rooms. The doors of these smoking rooms have been specially designed to glide sideways instead of swinging out, thereby reducing the amount of smoke to escape the room by 77%. The airflow in the room is designed to go from the door to the exhaust fan, reducing the amount of time the smoke lingers in the room.

　　The direction of the airflow needs to be uniform between the intake and the exhaust, and the exhaust needs to go to the outside directly. The HVAC system needs to be separated from the rest of the building, so there is no cross-circulation between the smoking and non-smoking area. The smoking area needs to be surrounded by air-tight enclosure, so the least amount of smoke will contaminate the non-smoking area.

　　Because there is no absolute failsafe way to guard against the second-hand smoke, the best way to preserve our health is to always be alert about our surroundings, so we are always as far away from the source of second-hand smoke as possible. This way, whether or not you are a smoker, the effect of the second-hand smoke on you or others can be reduced to a minimum.