A study was just released in the American Chemical Society's publication, Chemical Research in Toxicology, funded by the National Cancer Institute. With a study group of 12 individuals who smoked a cigarette with a modified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), researchers found that within the first blood check (15-30 minute interval) the body had metabolized the PAH into chemicals that are mutagenic and carcinogenic.
In effect, as soon as you breath in smoke, your DNA is being altered (mutagenic), and the opportunity of cancer formation is immediate (carcinogen).
Secondhand smoke is also bad for you: it does not matter that the smoke has been breathed in by the smoker and then released -- it still contains mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds, even if in lesser levels than simply side smoke (smoke not inhaled by a smoker, but is instead released by a burning cigarette).
Yes, PAH is in our foods, whether charbroiled meats and fish, or coffee, tea and spinach, but not in the amounts taken in by a smoker.
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