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Measure E5: Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Smoking in the Home

Children can be exposed to a number of air pollutants that come from sources inside homes, schools, and other buildings. Indoor sources include combustion sources such as gas stoves, fireplaces, and cigarettes; building materials such as treated wood and paints, furnishings, carpet, and fabrics; and consumer products such as sprays, pesticides, window cleaners, and laundry soap. Indoor air pollutants also can come from outside, as air pollution penetrates indoors. Information on the toxic effects of air pollutants from indoor sources indicates that they could pose health risks to children.1,2

Children who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, also known as secondhand smoke, are at increased risk for a number of adverse health effects, including lower respiratory tract infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, fluid in the middle ear, asthma symptoms, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).3-8 Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke also may be a risk factor contributing to the development of new cases of asthma.4,9,10 Young children appear to be more susceptible to the effects of environmental tobacco smoke than older children are.1,4

Smoking in the home is an important source of exposure because young children spend most of their time at home and indoors. The measure for environmental tobacco smoke shows the percentage of children ages 6 and under regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in the home. Most often the smoker in the home is a parent. This measure is a surrogate for the exposure of children to tobacco smoke. The data come from a national survey and are available for 1994, 1998, and 2003.

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  1. U. Diez, T. Kroessner, M. Rehwagen, M. Richter, H. Wetzig, R. Schulz, M. Borter, G. Metzner, P. Krumbiegel and O. Herbarth. 2000. Effects of indoor painting and smoking on airway symptoms in atopy risk children in the first year of life: results of the Leipzig Allergy High-Risk Children Study. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 203:23-28.
  2. National Academy of Sciences. 2000. Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9610.html. Exit EPA
  3. E. Dybing and T. Sanner. 1999. Passive smoking, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and childhood infections. Human and Experimental Toxicology 18:202-205.
  4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1992. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Washington, DC. EPA/600/6-90/006F. http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/ets/etsindex.cfm. Exit EPA
  5. M. S. Benninger. 1999. The impact of cigarette smoking and environmental tobacco smoke on nasal and sinus disease: a review of the literature. American Journal of Rhinology 13:435-438.
  6. B. P. Lanphear, C. A. Aligne, P. Auinger, M. Weitzman and R. S. Byrd. 2001. Residential exposures associated with asthma in U.S. children. Pediatrics 107 (3):505-11.
  7. D. M. Mannino, J. E. Moorman, B. Kingsley, D. Rose and J. Repace. 2001. Health effects related to environmental tobacco smoke exposure in children in the United States: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 155 (1):36-41.
  8. P. J. Gergen, J. A. Fowler, K. R. Maurer, W. W. Davis and M. D. Overpeck. 1998. The burden of environmental tobacco smoke exposure on the respiratory health of children 2 months through 5 years of age in the United States: Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 to 1994. Pediatrics 101 (2):E8.
  9. D. R. Wahlgren, M. F. Hovell, E. O. Meltzer and S. B. Meltzer. 2000. Involuntary smoking and asthma. Current Opinions in Pulmonary Medicine 6:31-6.
  10. A. Lindfors, M. V. Hage-Hamsten, H. Rietz, M. Wickman and S. L. Nordvall. 1999. Influence of interaction of environmental risk factors and sensitization in young asthmatic children. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 104:755-62.

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Environmental Contaminants

Measures:

Outdoor Air Pollutants

Indoor Air Pollutants

  • Measure E5

Drinking Water Contaminants

Pesticide Residues

Land Contaminants

 

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