environmental tobacco smoke

Meaning of environmental tobacco smoke: Environmental tobacco smoke combines smoke exhaled by smokers with smoke released directly from burning tobacco, inhaled involuntarily by others nearby.

Definition of environmental tobacco smoke

Environmental tobacco smoke is a combination of the smoke exhaled by a person smoking a tobacco product and the smoke released directly from its burning end between puffs. Together these two sources create the smoke that lingers in the surrounding air and can be inhaled by people nearby who are not smoking themselves.

Breathing in environmental tobacco smoke is commonly called involuntary or passive smoking, since the exposure occurs without the person choosing to smoke. This smoke contains many of the same chemical substances found in smoke inhaled directly by a smoker, though often in different concentrations.

Because environmental tobacco smoke can accumulate in enclosed spaces such as vehicles and indoor rooms, exposure is not limited to people standing immediately next to someone smoking, and children and other household members are commonly exposed within shared living spaces where smoking occurs.