Vital signs: disparities in nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke--United States, 1999-2012

Abstract

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) from burning tobacco products causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory infections, ear infections, and asthma attacks in infants and children, and coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer in adult nonsmokers. No risk-free level of SHS exposure exists. SHS exposure causes more than 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults and 400 deaths in infants each year, and approximately $5.6 billion annually in lost productivity. Although population exposure to SHS has declined over the past 2 decades, many nonsmokers remain exposed to SHS in workplaces, public places, homes, and vehicles.

FIGURE

Percentage of nonsmoking children aged 3–11 years with serum cotinine levels 0.05–10 ng/mL, by race/ethnicity^* — National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 1999–2012 ^* Because of the sample design, analyses of data by race/ethnicity were limited to the three racial/ethnic populations available across all survey cycles (non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Mexican Americans).