Secondhand smoke
As a kid, you most likely thought you were invincible. That is also true in today’s generation of adolescents. They may not think much of how their choices affect their own health – but the health of their loved ones is a different story.
In the previous lesson, you discovered that the aerosol from an e-cigarette can be inhaled by bystanders. This means that whoever is around someone vaping can experience the consequences of its harmful effects.
Click on each person’s icon in the image below to learn more about vaping and secondhand smoke.
Pregnant Person
- Nicotine is toxic to the health of a pregnant woman and her developing fetus
- Nicotine can cause damage to the fetus’s brain and lungs
Young Children
- Children can be exposed to nicotine by breathing in the aerosol, or absorbing it through their skin or eyes
- This can lead to acute nicotine exposure, which is toxic to both children and adults
Friends & Peers
- Kids spend a lot of time with their friends
- This makes it more likely that their peers will be exposed to the effects of vaping, even if they don’t vape themselves
Elders
- As our elders age, they grow more vulnerable to certain health conditions, and their immune system becomes weaker
- This makes the effects of vaping all the more dangerous to older adults
- Pregnant person
- Young child
- Peer (teen)
- Elderly person
- Nicotine is toxic to the health of a pregnant woman and her developing fetus
- Nicotine can cause damage to the fetus’s brain and lungs
- Children can be exposed to nicotine by breathing in the aerosol, or absorbing it through their skin or eyes
- This can lead to acute nicotine exposure, which is toxic to both children and adults
- Kids spend a lot of time with their friends
- This makes it more likely that their peers will be exposed to the effects of vaping, even if they don’t vape themselves
- As our elders age, they grow more vulnerable to certain health conditions, and their immune system becomes weaker
- This makes the effects of vaping all the more dangerous to older adults
When you are ready to have a conversation with your child about vaping, have them consider this: You may not think much of your own health, but what about the health of your siblings? Your friends? Your elders?