Smokers everywhere have heard about secondhand smoke and the dangers it poses to nonsmokers. Indeed, the media attention has been so strong that now there’s hardly a public place left where you can light up.

But is this just a case of “much ado about nothing,” or is secondhand smoke really as bad as health professionals like to make out?

Unfortunately for smokers, it is as bad as everyone says. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified secondhand smoke – also known as side stream smoke or environmental tobacco smoke – as a Group A carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer in nonsmokers. The EPA estimates about 3,000 nonsmokers die from lung cancer every year due to exposure to secondhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke also poses significant risks to the cardiovascular system. The EPA says about 35,000 people a year die from heart disease brought on by regular exposure to smokers.

Secondhand smoke is particularly dangerous for children. Because their lungs are still developing, they are especially sensitive to cigarette smoke. Babies and toddlers who live with smokers have more respiratory infections than those who don’t, they are more likely to develop pneumonia, they wheeze more often, and they have more ear infections. All children with asthma are at risk, because they already have an underlying breathing problem. Breathing secondhand smoke causes an increase in asthma flare ups and makes asthma symptoms more severe. Secondhand smoke can even lead some children to develop asthma who might not otherwise have gotten the disease.

So even if you continue to smoke, it’s important to take measures to protect the innocent nonsmokers around you, including your friends and family, from breathing in the smoke you breath out. Be courteous and step outside to smoke. Make sure your smoking friends obey the “outside smoking only” rule when in your home. Eat in non-smoking restaurants whenever you are dining with nonsmokers. And never, ever, smoke around children.