Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. It causes one in ten deaths among adults worldwide. in 2005, tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths, or an average of one death every six seconds. At the current rate, 8.3 million deaths are expected by 2030, and a total of 1 billion deaths in the 21st century. Secondhand tobacco smoke is very dangerous to health. It causes cancer, heart disease and many other serious illnesses in adults. Almost half of the world’s children breathe air contaminated with tobacco smoke, making their asthma worse and causing dangerous diseases. At least 200,000 workers die each year due to exposure to secondhand smoke at work. This fact file shows why ensuring a smoke-free environment is the only way to protect ourselves from the deadly and harmful effects of tobacco smoke. 10 facts about tobacco and secondhand smoke: 1. Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. It causes one in ten deaths among adults worldwide. in 2005, tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths, or an average of one death every six seconds. If current trends continue, the number of deaths is expected to reach 8.3 million by 2030. 2. Tobacco kills half of its regular users. On average, 29% of the world’s population is a smoker. Smoking is more common among men (47.5% of all men) than among women (10.3%). Of the 1.3 billion smokers alive today, 650 million are likely to die from tobacco, half of whom die between the ages of 35 and 69. 3. More than 1 billion smokers, or 84% of smokers, live in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. By 2030, 70 percent of tobacco-attributable deaths will occur in the developing world. 4. In the 20th century, tobacco was responsible for 100 million deaths. If current trends continue, 1 billion people will die in the 21st century. 5, the smoke produced by burning tobacco products is called second-hand tobacco smoke or environmental tobacco smoke. Tobacco smoke in enclosed places is inhaled by everyone, exposing smokers and nonsmokers alike to its harmful effects. This is often referred to as involuntary smoking or passive smoking. 6, second-hand tobacco smoke is very dangerous to health. There are about 4,000 known chemicals in tobacco smoke; more than 50 of them are known to cause cancer. Secondhand tobacco smoke also causes heart disease in adults, as well as many serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases that can lead to death. It is estimated that 700 million children, or nearly half of the world’s children, breathe air contaminated by tobacco smoke, especially in the home. Secondhand smoke can cause many serious illnesses in children and make conditions such as asthma more severe. 8. The International Labor Organization estimates that at least 200,000 workers die each year because of exposure to smoke at work. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths among non-smokers in that country each year. 9, Exposure to secondhand smoke also imposes economic costs on individuals, business enterprises and society as a whole in the form of direct and indirect medical costs and lost productivity. 10, There is no safe level of exposure for secondhand tobacco smoke. Neither ventilation nor filtration, or even a combination of both, can reduce indoor exposure to levels considered acceptable. Only a 100 percent smoke-free environment provides effective protection.