<<   Back to FAQs

What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is the combination of two forms of smoke from burning tobacco products:
sidestream smoke and mainstream smoke. Sidestream smoke, which makes up about half of all secondhand smoke, comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe (10, 11, 12, 13). Mainstream smoke is exhaled by the smoker. Exposure to secondhand smoke is also called involuntary smoking or passive smoking (10, 11, 12).