Smoking and your health

Smoke and/or smoking means to smoke, hold or otherwise have control over an ignited oral tobacco product, light a tobacco product; or use an e-cigarette. Oral tobacco products include cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, chewing tobacco, and waterpipe smoking (or shisha). An e-cigarette is a portable device that releases an aerosol or vapour for personal use. The use of an e-cigarette is commonly referred to as "vaping".

There is no safe level of tobacco smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke. Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals with at least 69 of these chemicals recognised as carcinogens, which cause cancer. When tobacco smoke is inhaled, these chemicals enter your lungs and spread though your body. 

Tobacco smoking can cause harm to the person smoking, as well as others around them through inhaling second hand smoke. Second hand smoke is when smoke produced by people who smoke is inhaled by someone who does not smoke.

Tobacco smoking has been linked to an increased risk of developing 16 different cancers, including: 

• Lung 
• Mouth (oral cavity), Voice box (larynx), nasal cavity and sinuses
• Throat (pharynx), oesophagus 
• Stomach 
• Bowel, bladder, liver, pancreas, kidney
• Cervix, ovary, ureter
• Bone marrow (myeloid leukaemia) (1).

When compared to people who have not smoked, smoking is also linked to an increased risk of:

• Having a heart attack, stroke, and heart failure;
• Having a fatal heart attack;
• Developing peripheral arterial disease;
• Developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and
• Experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression (2).

Whilst e-cigarettes are a relatively new product in comparison to cigarettes, the use of them has been linked to a number negative health outcomes, including:

• Serious lung disease
• Damage to the brain and physical development*
• Nicotine poisoning*
• Poorer mental health*
• Second-hand exposure to harmful chemicals
• Physical harm ("vapes" have been known to explode, causing serious burns)

*These negative health outcomes have been specifically linked to "vape" products or e-cigarettes containing nicotine (3).

Quitting at any age has health, financial, social and environmental benefits. If you are thinking about quitting it is important to choose a method you feel comfortable with and that suits your lifestyle.

For more information and support to quit smoking, call the Quitline on 13 78 48 or visit the Make Smoking History website. 

You can also visit your General Practitioner (GP) to make and appointment to get advice, and support.

(1) Make Smoking History (2023). Smoking and physical health. Retrieved from: https://www.makesmokinghistory.org.au/why-quit/for-your-health/physical-health 
(2) Make Smoking History (2023). Smoking and mental health. Retrieved from: https://www.makesmokinghistory.org.au/why-quit/for-your-health/mental-health 
(3) Healthy WA (2022). E-cigarettes and Vaping. Retrieved from: https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/vaping