How would you react if you found out that something you breathe on a daily basis contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, almost 70 of which are known to cause cancer?

There is a common substance just like that, and you may be breathing it every day. It is Tobacco Smoke Pollution (TSP), more commonly known as second-hand smoke.

TSP is a Group A carcinogen -- a rating used only for substances proven to cause cancer in humans. According to the World Health Organization and the California Environmental Protection Agency, there is no safe level of exposure to TSP.

In fact, breathing TSP is more hazardous than smoking.

TSP particles are so small that they escape the nasal filtering system and enter the lungs directly, reaching deeper sections of the lung.

TSP is the primary cause of 3,000 lung cancer deaths in non-smokers each year, as well as many of the heart disease cases that appear in emergency departments across the country.

Clearly, TSP is a public health issue that needs to be controlled and eliminated from our environments.

The majority (72.7 percent) of undergraduate students at University Park who were questioned about smoking in a Penn State Pulse survey in October answered that they did not currently smoke. Maybe you are among the majority -- you've made a conscious choice to avoid certain chemical compounds. Good for you!

However, like many of your fellow non-smokers, you may not realize that you are inadvertently exposing your lungs to those same chemicals. Yes, that's right -- the very chemicals you are trying to avoid can sneak into your lungs.

How? Simply by your breathing in TSP. It can happen on your way to class as you pass a group of smokers, or when you are out at a bar or party on a Friday night. You can breathe in those particles and gases without even realizing it.

For example, spending a night in a bar is equivalent to smoking half a pack of cigarettes. If you happen to be a bar employee, it is even worse.

So, if you care about your health or just don't want to have stinky clothes, what can you do about it?

Many bar owners do not think students care about the quality of air in their establishments. But the Pulse survey shows that many of you do: 76 percent of surveyed students said they thought smoking should be limited or not allowed in bars and taverns.

Penn State Students for Tobacco Awareness, a student advocacy group working toward creating smoke-free bar options in State College, is encouraging you to let bar managers and owners know that you are fed up with the smoky air.

So the next time you are in a restaurant or bar, wear one of our orange buttons or stickers to let people know you support smoke-free establishments. We will be handing them out downtown almost every weekend in March and April.

If you are under 21 or do not go to bars, avoid parties where there are large numbers of smokers, and encourage your friends to have smoke-free parties. It should not be a stretch for students to do this, given that most students on campus do not smoke cigarettes. And many of those who do smoke are social smokers who would welcome an environment that does not encourage their habit.

You have a right to breathe clean air -- air that does not contain those 70 compounds in TSP that are known to cause cancer. Speak up for yourself!