Second Hand Smoke - Does it Affect your Skin?

The more you are in contact with second hand smoke the more you are likely to have problems with the skin that second hand smoke causes.

The Facts

Second hand smoke is a major air pollutant that has around 4,000 chemicals and includes 200 poisons that are known such as formaldehyde and carbon monoxide.

Second hand smoke also contains 43 carcinogens. One of the main chemicals that second hand smoke produces is formaldehyde, which is a chemical that is an adhesive for many materials around the house such as carpets and upholstery.

When formaldehyde is released into the air from second hand smoke it can cause health problems, one of which is skin rashes. One of the chemicals in cigarettes is Quinoline, which is very dangerous to the skin. By exposure through second hand smoke of Quinoline, you can get rashes to the skin. Absorbing Quinoline can happen by inhalation of secondhand smoke as well as with contact with the skin.

Second Hand Smoke Promotes Scarring

There has also been research done that second hand smoke affects the skin in that it promotes scarring. When the cells of a human are exposed to second hand smoke, the cells` ability to get to the part of the skin is compromised. With second hand smoke the makeup of the smoke can be more concentrated that in smoke in the first hand. The concentration of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide is twice as high as those when the person smoking first inhales the smoke. It has been found that the skin’s exposure to the second hand smoke changes the formation of the skin cells cytoskeleton as this will reduce the ability of the cells to move.

Skin Odor

One of the non health related factors in which second hand smoke affect the skin is the fact that with much exposure the skin will smell like smoke as much is absorbed into the skin. Many of the diseases that are found to be caused by smoking can also happen in people because of second hand smoke if the person is exposed to it enough. The main ways the skin is affected is the rashes that can occur because of the poisons that are in the second hand smoke.

Source: carefair.com