Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are irritants and toxins.

Too many people, especially parents, smoke outside schools and nurseries, exposing children to secondhand smoke.

Breathing in secondhand smoke is particularly harmful for children. Children who breathe in secondhand smoke have an increased risk of:

- cot death (sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS)
- developing asthma (smoking can also trigger asthma attacks in children who already have the condition),
- serious respiratory (breathing) conditions such as bronchitis and pneumonia
- meningitis
- more susceptible to coughs and colds

Children seeing adults smoking also normalises it.