Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Cars and Rooms: Trend Comparisons Among Subpopulations of Nonsmoking U.S. Middle and High School Students

Abstract

Although prevalence of exposure to SHS in cars and rooms among nonsmoking U.S. middle and high school students has declined from 2000 to 2009, the rates of decline were not equal across genders and racial/ethnic groups. Identification of these differing rates of exposure can help the public health community advocate for interventions focused on reducing adolescent SHS exposure.

Smoking and Passive Smoke Exposure Among Adolescents in Germany

“…No comparable data from other studies are available for Germany. However, international studies confirm the observed trend of declining exposure to passive smoke among adolescents (32,33).…”

Smoking in cars in England: a study of school students in an English city

“…In a repeated cross sectional study in New Zealand a slightly greater proportion of children (23%) have been reported to be exposed to smoking in cars in the previous week, however over time a slow decline of the proportion exposed has been observed [20]. Similarly, decline in exposure to smoking in cars over time has been observed among children in the United States [21,22]. In New Zealand greater exposure to secondhand smoke was observed among children from lower socio-economic groups, and smoking being common in family and among friends, and being exposed to smoking at home or in a car was related to increased susceptibility to smoking and risk of becoming a smoker [20].…”

Exposure to second hand smoke at home and work among nonsmokers

“…Sources of exposure to SHS, for example, while traveling in private automobiles and/or public transportation, being in shopping malls or other recreational outlets like bars and restaurants, or outside in the open environment, and participating in relatively large private recreational gatherings at home or other avenues were not accounted for. There have been studies that have assessed the exposure to SHS in some of these sources, for example, in automobiles (King et al, 2012;Kabir et al, 2009;McIntire et al, 2014) and at bars (Kalkhoran et al, 2013). A recent review reports on the exposure to SHS in open and semi-open settings (Sureda et al, 2013).…”

“…How much contribution does all exposures to overall SHS exposure is made is unknown but may be substantially higher than what was found in this study. Thus, while there are quite a few studies (King et al, 2012;Kabir et al, 2009;McIntire et al, 2014;Kalkhoran et al, 2013;Sureda et al, 2013) that have tracked exposure to SHS in sources other than home and work, there is a need for a longitudinal type of study where enrollees in the study can be followed more or less on a 24/7 basis for a reasonable period of type. This kind of study will allow an integrated picture of the total structure of SHS exposure and the interrelationships between different components of SHS exposure.…”