# Question about cigarette smoke and Covid 19. Maybe not what you're thinking, better explanation inside

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-cigarette-smoke-and-covid-19-maybe-not-what-youre-thinking-better-explanation-inside/912121>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 22, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-cigarette-smoke-and-covid-19-maybe-not-what-youre-thinking-better-explanation-inside/912121 "2020-06-22T23:22:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-cigarette-smoke-and-covid-19-maybe-not-what-youre-thinking-better-explanation-inside/912121/1 "2020-06-22T23:22:01Z")

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Lets say a person with the virus approaches a smallish store or enclosed building. Before they open the door they take a big drag on their cigarette and flick the cigarette away. They enter the building and exhale their smoke. If I’m in the building and smell their exhalation, am I also getting dosed with their virus? I guess I’m asking if the virus travels (in the air) the same distance and pattern as the particulates of the cigarette smoke.

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**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-cigarette-smoke-and-covid-19-maybe-not-what-youre-thinking-better-explanation-inside/912121/2 "2020-06-23T14:54:33Z")

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My uneducated guess is that smoke particles are smaller and lighter than most of the droplets that carry Covid. I know I can defiantly smell smoke longer away than 6 feet, but we have been told that six feet is far enough away that most of the droplets have fallen or have dispersed enough to be less dangerous.

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**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-cigarette-smoke-and-covid-19-maybe-not-what-youre-thinking-better-explanation-inside/912121/3 "2020-09-25T05:57:10Z")

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Bumping because I heard an expert address this.

> **[Research shows coronavirus spreads primarily through air. Here's how to...](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/research-shows-coronavirus-spreads-primarily-through-air-heres-how-to-reduce-risk)**
>
> A growing body of evidence indicates that airborne transmission is the main way people are becoming infected with the novel coronavirus. Given that understanding, how should we change our behavior to reduce our risk of infection? William Brangham...