The world's first ever day dedicated to stopping smoking in the home will be launched in Bradford tomorrow.

The Smoke-Free Home Day aims to protect children from inhaling the toxic cocktail of chemicals breathed out by their parents or other smokers. Run by West Yorkshire Smoking & Health (WYSH) it is the first event of its kind in the world.

WYSH workers dressed in Smoke-Free Homes sweatshirts and baseball caps will be in the Kirkgate Shopping Centre, Bradford, between 9am and 5pm. Shoppers will be able to pick up applications and can pledge to stop smoking in their homes. Balloons and stickers will also be handed out and stores will display leaflets.

Dr Andrew Furber, chairman of the Smoke-Free Homes campaign, said: "We are launching the day to increase awareness that second-hand or passive smoke is not just a nuisance but dangerous to health. Smoke curling up from the end of a cigarette is a waste dump of toxic chemicals."

Campaigners are particularly concerned about the threat of passive smoke to children.

Dianne Woodhall, of Bradford District Health Development, said: "Wherever there are lower income families, as in Bradford, there are also higher rates of smoking.

"Smokers know the dangers to their health, but they don't realise the dangers to their children and the family. This will raise that issue."

Sixty per cent of children in deprived areas are exposed to passive smoke in the home, with up to 17,000 admitted to hospitals with smoke-related problems every year.

The fumes they inhale - a deadly mix of 4,000 chemicals - leave poisonous gases and dirt particles in the lungs. This can cause chest infections, asthma, learning difficulties, heart disease, lung cancer and lead to cot deaths.

Jamil Rehman, chief officer of health watchdog, Bradford Community Health Council, praised the initiative for confronting the high levels of smoking within the city's diverse community.

"Among certain groups, especially ethnic minorities, the message isn't really getting across," he said.

"Some people still regard smoking as a perfectly reasonable thing to do. What's more, parents smoking in the house gives that signal out to the child.

''Anything like this that promotes the anti-smoking message can only be a positive thing."

WYSH, funded by the Department of Health, is the first organisation set up to tackle passive smoking in the UK.

Its co-ordinator Patricia Hodgson said she hoped the campaign's launch across West Yorkshire would prove the blueprint for an annual event nationwide.

"Due to the positive response we've had from other health workers across the UK, it is likely," she said.