A new Center for Disease Control and Prevention study cleared the air and found fewer Americans are breathing in harmful second hand smoke.
The research, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found nearly half of nonsmoking Americans are still breathing in cigarette fumes, but since the early 1990s the percentage has declined dramatically.
“It’s still high,” said Cinzia Marano, one of the study’s authors. “There is no safe level of exposure.”
Researchers said one driving force behind the decline in secondhand smoke is the growing number of laws and policies that ban smoking in workplaces, bars, restaurants and public places.
According to CDC statistics, less than 20 percent of adults smoke, another factor pushing the decline.
The CDC reported 46 percent of non-smoking adults had signs of nicotine in their blood according to tests performed in 1999 through 2004. The number was a major drop from the late 1980s when similar tests were done and the number stood at 84 percent.
Secondhand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer by at least 20 percent and the risk of heart disease by at least 25 percent.
Health officials say children are at a greater risk of asthma attacks, ear problems, acute respiratory infections and sudden infant death syndrome when exposed to second hand smoke.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey provided data for the CDC. The survey consisted of sending mobile trailers out to communities where participants were asked about their health, received blood tests, and physical exams.
The blood tests looked for a byproduct of nicotine called cotinine – that usually is detectable for a span of four to five days.
Terry Pechacek, associate director for science in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said the blood tests are vital because many people underestimate their exposure to secondhand smoke.
The government report used data that was collected on about 17,000 nonsmokers, ages 4 and up, in the years 1988 through1994. It looked at the same number of participants in 1999 through 2004.
The decline in secondhand smoke exposure was less for black nonsmokers who saw a decline from 94 percent to 71 percent. For whites, the numbers dropped from 83 percent to 43 percent and for Mexican-Americans, 78 percent to 40 percent.
The CDC said one troubling statistic, was second hand smoke exposure for children did not decrease as dramatically as it did for adults.
According to the data, more than 60 percent of children ages 4 through 11 had recent exposure to cigarette smoke in the 1999-2004 period.
“Obviously, the exposure is at home,” said Thomas Glynn, the American Cancer Society’s director for cancer science and trends.
CDC officials say it’s unclear if adult smokers are smoking more in their cars or at home due to recent bans. However, researchers said they’re probably not smoking much less in those places, a factor that could explain why their kids’ exposure to tobacco smoke didn’t decline as much as adults.
Pechacek said, “Parents need to be aware that this is very dangerous, and they need to take actions to ensure that their children are not exposed.”
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