What is secondhand smoke? (Tobacco).(Brief Article)

Tanya won't be going to school today," Mrs. Hoban said into the phone. "Her asthma is really bad."

Mrs. Hoban hung up the phone and sighed. It was the fourth day of school Tanya had missed this month alone. Not only was Tanya falling behind the rest of the class, but Mrs. Hoban was also finding it tough to get to work because she needed to stay home with her daughter.

One of the things that made Tanya's asthma worse was her father's smoking. He hardly ever smoked in the apartment anymore. But when he came home, his clothes and hair smelled of tobacco. After dinner, he would go out to the balcony to have a cigarette, and sometimes the smoke would drift back inside. Many of the Hobans' neighbors smoked, too, so the hallways and lobby were always smoky and smelly. Tanya, with her allergies and asthma, was particularly sensitive to this secondhand smoke (the smoke from other people's cigarettes). The smoke would dry up the lining of her air passages and "paralyze" the cilia, or tiny hairs, lining them. The paralyzed cilia were then unable to sweep the dust, dirt, and other ...