It's taken a couple generations, but it appears that Canadians are getting the message: Smoking isn't healthy.

By 2006, the rate of smoking among Canadian men had dropped to 16.6 per cent. Among women, the rate had declined to 13.9 per cent. Canada has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world.

Still, Health Canada estimates that every year, more than 37,000 Canadians die from diseases or illnesses caused by using tobacco. Every time you take a drag on a cigarette, you expose yourself to more than 4,000 chemicals. At least 50 of them are known or probable carcinogens.

But you're not just exposing yourself — you are exposing everyone else around you to the same toxins.

Health Canada's numbers suggest that of those annual tobacco deaths, 300 are non-smokers who die of lung cancer and another 800 are non-smokers felled by heart disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 700 million children around the world are exposed to second-hand smoke. In 2006, a U.S. surgeon general's report concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. It increases the risk of serious respiratory problems in children, raising the number and severity of asthma attacks and lower respiratory tract infections, and increases the risk for middle-ear infections. In adults, it leads to coronary disease and lung cancer.

The WHO is focusing on children and the dangers of second-hand smoke in its 2008-2009 anti-cancer campaign, which kicked off on World Cancer Day — marked annually on Feb. 4. The organization aims to send a simple message to parents: "Second-hand smoke is a health hazard for you and your family. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Give your child a smoke-free childhood."

What are some of the cancer-causing chemicals in second-hand smoke?

The ones that are known to cause cancer in humans include:

• 4-Aminobiphenyl
• Benzene
• Cadmium
• Chromium
• 2-Naphthylamine
• Nickel
• Polonium-210
• Vinyl chloride

Benzene is produced whenever carbon-rich materials undergo incomplete combustion. Breathing high levels of the chemical can kill you, but long-term exposure at low levels might just damage your bone marrow and decrease your body's production of red blood cells. If you're lucky, you just get away with anemia. If you're not, leukemia is a possibility.

Cadmium's another cancer-causer. Long-term exposure can inflame your lungs or lead to pneumonia. The good news about cadmium? Your body will absorb most of the cadmium that's in your cigarette — it will accumulate in your lungs and kidneys. There's not much of it in second-hand smoke to share with those around you.

What other chemicals are in cigarette smoke?

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada says the following chemicals found in cigarettes are possible carcinogens:

• Acetaldehyde

• Benzo[b]fluoranthene
• Benzo[j]fluoranthene
• Benzo[k]fluoranthene
• Dibenz[a,h]acridine
• Dibenz[a,j]acridine
• 7H-Dibenz[c,g]carbazole
• Dibenzo(a,i)pyrene
• Dibenzo(a,I)pyrene
• 1,1-Dimethylhydrazine
• Hydrazine
• Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene
• Lead
• 5-Methylchrysene
• 2-Nitropropane
• N-Nitrosodiethanolamine
• N-Nitrosomethylethylamine
• N-Nitrosomorpholine
• N'-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN)
• N-Nitrosopyrrolidine
• ortho-Toluidine
• Urethane (ethyl carbamate)

Hydrazine is a component in some rocket fuels. It's also used in the production of spandex fibres. You also suck some up every time you smoke. It will irritate your eyes, nose and throat and can also cause dizziness and nausea. Take in enough of it and your liver, kidneys and central nervous system will be damaged.

What has some of the research into second-hand smoke shown?

In 2006, the U.S. surgeon general focused on second-hand smoke in his annual report. That report came 20 years after the surgeon general first identified second-hand smoke as a major cause of disease in healthy non-smokers. The report also concluded that providing separate smoking areas for smokers is not enough to protect non-smokers.

The 2006 report came to six major conclusions:

• Second-hand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and in adults who do not smoke.

• Children exposed to second-hand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows lung growth in their children.
• Exposure of adults to second-hand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer.
• The scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to second-hand smoke.
• Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to second-hand smoke in their homes and workplaces despite substantial progress in tobacco control.
• Eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate exposures of non-smokers to second-hand smoke.

What are some of the initiatives underway to contain exposure to second-hand smoke?

It's now illegal to smoke in virtually all indoor public places across the country. On Dec. 13, 2007, Nova Scotia became the first province to ban smoking in cars when children or teens are present.

Since then, the Canadian Cancer Society released a poll that found that most Canadians support a smoking ban in cars that carry children. The society said even a solid majority of smokers back such a ban.

Legislation to ban smoking in cars carrying children has also been introduced in Ontario and British Columbia.

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