A Cigarette On The Porch Still Harms Your Kids

Parents who smoke on the porch or yard for the sake of their kids are still putting them at risk, says a new study. 

They should avoid smoking within 10 meters of the home, according to researchers at Tel Aviv University.

They found nicotine in the hair of 60 percent of children whose parents thought they were sparing them from their tobacco smoke.

“Our recommendations are unequivocal,” they say. “To reduce children’s exposure to tobacco smoke, smoking should be entirely avoided within a range of 10 meters from the house.

“Likewise in open areas, smokers should maintain a distance of at least 10 meters from the children.”

In Israel many porches are adjacent to the living areas, allowing smoke to drift inside.

The researchers say: “In Israel, home porches should be regarded as part of the environment of the home. Smoking next to a window or in another specific place in the home does not protect most children from exposure.”

Smoke is absorbed into the furniture, walls or rugs, and is then gradually discharged into the air over weeks or months. This ‘third-hand smoke’ can be absorbed into the body through the skin, especially among infants and small children.

The researchers say smoking parents further transmit the toxins from the tobacco smoke on their skin, on their hands, in their hair, and on their clothing.

They say smokers should brush their teeth, wash their hands and change their clothes before contact with children.

Professor Leah Rosen of the School of Public Health in the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, who led the study, said: “The State of Israel must make the reduction of parental smoking a national goal and invest the appropriate resources in this issue.

“Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions regarding when and how the exposure occurs. Eighty-five percent of tobacco smoke is invisible and our sense of smell is not reliable, so many parents mistakenly believe that they are protecting their children while in fact they are exposing them to substantial health risks.

“As a society, we must safeguard citizens and distance everyone from the risks of tobacco smoke exposure, especially infants and children, pregnant women, and all vulnerable populations.”

The findings were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

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