slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
December 13, 2010, 4:05 PM
The Elusive ‘Smoke-Free’ Home
By RONI CARYN RABIN
Many parents have a no-smoking rule when it comes to the home. But if you live in an apartment and the neighbor upstairs lights up, is your child exposed to cigarette smoke?
Yes, says a new study that 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.
The study is the first, the authors say, to provide evidence not only that cigarette smoke flows from one unit to another through vents and air ducts, but that children living in multiunit housing are exposed to smoke involuntarily, on a regular basis, even when their parents are trying to protect them. It didn’t matter how wealthy the families were — if they lived in an apartment, their children were exposed to more tobacco.
“People already understand that smoke doesn’t stop at the doorway,” said Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, associate professor in pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and senior author of the paper, published online today in the medical journal Pediatrics. “This study is the last link in the chain of evidence: it doesn’t stop at the doorway — and we see it in the blood of kids.”
The findings could potentially open a new front in the battle over smoking bans, moving it from public spheres like workplaces, airplanes, restaurants and bars into the more private zone of people’s homes.
The surgeon general has said there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke, and several public health experts said the findings, combined with earlier reports, justify efforts to ban smoking in public housing, where low-income children are already burdened by high rates of asthma and other chronic illnesses. The new evidence could also provide ammunition for apartment dwellers trying to pressure landlords and co-op boards to make entire buildings smoke-free, several experts said. Officials with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development wouldn’t comment on the study, but last year the agency urged local public housing authorities to establish smoke-free policies.
continued at
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/the-elusive-smoke-free-home/?hp
The Elusive ‘Smoke-Free’ Home
By RONI CARYN RABIN
Many parents have a no-smoking rule when it comes to the home. But if you live in an apartment and the neighbor upstairs lights up, is your child exposed to cigarette smoke?
Yes, says a new study that 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.
The study is the first, the authors say, to provide evidence not only that cigarette smoke flows from one unit to another through vents and air ducts, but that children living in multiunit housing are exposed to smoke involuntarily, on a regular basis, even when their parents are trying to protect them. It didn’t matter how wealthy the families were — if they lived in an apartment, their children were exposed to more tobacco.
“People already understand that smoke doesn’t stop at the doorway,” said Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, associate professor in pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and senior author of the paper, published online today in the medical journal Pediatrics. “This study is the last link in the chain of evidence: it doesn’t stop at the doorway — and we see it in the blood of kids.”
The findings could potentially open a new front in the battle over smoking bans, moving it from public spheres like workplaces, airplanes, restaurants and bars into the more private zone of people’s homes.
The surgeon general has said there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke, and several public health experts said the findings, combined with earlier reports, justify efforts to ban smoking in public housing, where low-income children are already burdened by high rates of asthma and other chronic illnesses. The new evidence could also provide ammunition for apartment dwellers trying to pressure landlords and co-op boards to make entire buildings smoke-free, several experts said. Officials with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development wouldn’t comment on the study, but last year the agency urged local public housing authorities to establish smoke-free policies.
continued at
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/the-elusive-smoke-free-home/?hp
I didn't know thats great so you smoke pot or are you straight sober as a nun
