Second-Hand Smoke is Almost Everywhere, Including Home

Do you have a smoke-free home rule? Unfortunately, if you live in an apartment or town house the rule may not protect your home entirely. A new study analyzed a marker of tobacco exposure in children’s blood samples. The study tested for cotinine, a tobacco metabolite used to assess exposure to secondhand smoke, and found that children living in apartments had higher levels of the chemical in their systems than those who lived in detached houses, even though their own units were smoke-free zones. Children living in town houses with shared walls had the same problem, the study found, though to a lesser degree. Average blood levels of cotinine for these children were lower than for children living in apartments but higher than for those living in detached houses.

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Source: Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics