© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KCUR is broadcasting from our auxiliary tower, limiting the reach of our broadcast signal. Streaming is still available online at KCUR.org and on smart devices.

Secondhand Smoke An Unwelcome Passenger In Cars With Kids

About 1 in 5 kids in middle school or high school is exposed to secondhand smoke in cars.
Richard Clark
/
iStockphoto.com
About 1 in 5 kids in middle school or high school is exposed to secondhand smoke in cars.

Sitting in a car with a smoker is about as close to lighting up as a nonsmoker can get.

And quite a few schoolchildren get exposed to secondhand smoke this way, according to an estimate by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 1 in 5 nonsmoking kids in middle and high school reported sharing a car with a smoker who had lit up within a week of answering a survey in 2009. The researchers say the survey, which included responses from thousands of students, gives an accurate snapshot of what's happening across the country.

"The car is the only source of exposure for some of these children, so if you can reduce that exposure, it's definitely advantageous for health," CDC researcher Brian King told The Associated Press. The findings appear in the latest issue of Pediatrics.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that any exposure to secondhand smoke is unsafe for kids.

And the latest report does find that nonsmoking kids' exposure to secondhand smoke in cars declined to 22.9 percent in 2009 from 39 percent in 2000. The researchers figure that laws barring smoking in many public places may have been a factor.

A decline in smoking prevalence and a hardening of attitudes against secondhand smoke also could be helping.

Still, researchers say more should be done. They recommend a ban on smoking in cars when children are present. That's already the law in a few places, they note, including California and Arkansas (for children under 14).

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
Your donation helps keep nonprofit journalism free and available for everyone.