Second-hand smoke effects kids in non-smoking homes

By now, we all know that smoking is bad. Bad for us.  Bad for our kids.  Bad for anyone who has to breathe in that thick, gray smoke.  Well, how about if you don’t smoke but you others around you do?  A new study published online today in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal Pediatrics is reporting that if you live in multi-unit housing, your child may still be susceptible to the effects of second-hand smoke.

The researchers hypothesized that children who lived in multi-unit homes, such as apartment buildings, would be at greater risk of second-hand smoke exposure as measured by the levels cotinine in their blood.  Cotinine is a byproduct of nicotine which indicates that nicotine was inhaled into, or somehow introduced to, the body.   According to information on WebMD, secondhand smoke contains chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, and carbon monoxide and that per 2006 Surgeon General’s report, no amount of second hand smoke is safe.  Nationwide between 150,000 and 300,000 children under the age of 18 months get respiratory infections attributed to second-hand smoke each year and over 40% of children with asthma attacks who visit the ER live with smokers.  Second hand smoke has also been linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), ear infections, and chronic coughs in children.  According to a 2008 news release by the Arizona Department of Health Services, more Arizonans  (20%) smoked in 2007 than in 2006 (18%).

What the researchers found is that while most children they studied showed some amounts of cotinine in their systems, even when in a non-smoking household, those children living in apartments had cotinine levels that were 45% higher than for children living in detached homes.  Why would this be?  Well, the researchers believe that possible explanations include seepage of the smoke and chemicals through the walls and also through shared ventilation systems.  The researchers propose a smoking ban in all multi-unit homes to help decrease exposure to second hand smoke for everyone. 

Would making apartments and other multi-unit homes smoke-free really be enough to protect our children?  Exposure could still result from third-hand smoke, the residue left being by second-hand smoke.  Third-hand smoke can get into the upholstery, floors, and walls and can stick around for months, according to information in a report on MSNBC.  With at least one-quarter of Arizonans living in multi-unit homes, this is an issue that affects a great deal of the population and more research needs to be done to find ways to effective combat our children’s exposure to smoke.

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