Secondhand smoking is extremely dangerous. It can cause death and dangerous health defects. Therefore, smoking is not only harmful to the smoker, but also to the people around him. However, there are only a few laws that restrict smoking in public places. More legislation on smoking restrictions is needed because secondhand smoke causes asthma attacks in children, heart disease in adults and sudden infant death syndrome in infants. These health problems are the result of harmful chemicals found in cigarettes. According to the National Cancer Institute, beryllium, butadiene, chromium, nickel and polonium are just some of the 69 deadly chemicals that can cause cancer. The Surgeon General's Office has shown that, when inhaled, the same carcinogenic chemicals breathed in by smokers enter the bodies of nonsmokers through secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke emitted from a burning tobacco product (sidestream smoking) and smoke exhaled by a smoker (mainstream smoking). Because lateral flow smoke is produced at lower temperatures and under different conditions than traditional smoking, it contains larger amounts of many of the toxins found in cigarette smoke. [National Cancer Institute]. Secondhand smoke contains over 50 cancer-causing chemicals and at least 250 can harm you [National Cancer Institute and Office of the Surgeon General]. “The National Toxicology Program estimates that at least those 250 chemicals found in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or carcinogenic” [Office of the Surgeon General]. The National Institutes of Health shows that environmental smoke is so harmful that it is considered a “Group A” carcinogen. “Group A carcinogens are the most toxic substances known to cause cancer in humans” [National Institute...... half of document ......g worry about inhaling someone else's smoke. Therefore, the government must take secondhand smoke seriously and take precautions to prevent innocent bystanders from being subjected to secondhand smoke. Works cited American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2010. Atlanta, GA: 2010. Print.American Heart Association. “Environmental (second-hand) tobacco smoke.” np 29 November 2010. Web. 8 May 2011. National Cancer Institute. Health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute, 1999. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 10. National Institutes of Health. “Other people's smoke”. npndWeb. May 8, 2011 Office of the Surgeon General, "The Health Consequences of Inadvertent Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General." US Department of Health and Human Services. January 4, 2007. Web. May 8 2011.