You may be thinking about TMV- Tobacco mosaic virus, which affects many species. I was recently chatting with an acquaintance who runs the family orchid breeding business, and asked him. He says his Grandpa used to smoke cigs in the greenhouses like a champ, but never saw a problem. He added that they were crappy processed American cigs, and that he would NEVER dream of letting his techs smoke in the greenhouse these days, but that in general, the more processed the cig (mmmm you known you smoke Mustangs, hahahaha!!!), the less the likelihood of viral transmission. He'd never smoke natural cigars or, say, American Spirits in there.
The other shit, though- formaldehyde, CO, etc- notsumuch. Just avoid smoking around your plants. It's not going to make them happy, and COULD potentially damage them.