Dangers of passive smoking escalate in New Yorkers

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city health commissioner and a co-author of the study, stated, “This is not what we expected. It is a shocking number."

The study was conducted by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Nearly 2,000 adults were analyzed who underwent blood tests and answered a questionnaire about their smoking habits.

Researchers found 57 percent of non-smoking New York City residents had cotinine in their blood, a by-product of nicotine, compared with 45 percent of nonsmokers nationwide.

Among the ethnic groups, Asian nonsmokers were most affected, with 68.7 percent showing high levels of cotinine. They topped the list. The study also established that low-income adults were more exposed to passive smoke as opposed to those belonging to the higher income, 63 percent vs. 54 percent.

The data was collected from a Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2004, a year after New York City banned public smoking, prohibiting people from lighting up in workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

The findings have baffled the researchers of the health department. At the time of the study, only 23.3 percent of adults in New York smoked in comparison with a national average of 29.7 percent.

Jennifer Ellis, a former health department epidemiologist and the study's lead author stated, "The study provides more evidence of the pervasiveness of secondhand smoke. It's not clear why New Yorkers experience more exposure, despite the city's relatively low smoking rate. It may be that living and working in close quarters with one another puts us at higher risk."

Smoke being exhaled by smokers or that burning from the end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar is involuntarily inhaled by non smokers. Passive smoke stays in the air for several hours after the smoker stops smoking.

Research has indicated that secondhand smoking has serious repercussions on an individual's health, which can be as serious and debilitating as smoking itself. Many nonsmokers are also exposed to a large amount of passive smoke in their own homes, or in the homes of family and friends. Smoke can linger in the air for hours, especially in enclosed spaces.

“Smoke doesn’t know to stop at a doorway,” said Dr. Winickoff, a professor at Harvard Medical School. “It fills the full capacity of every indoor location in which the cigarette is smoked.”

Dr Frieden said, "Tobacco smoke is a toxic pollutant. Most New York City non-smokers are breathing in dangerous chemicals in second-hand smoke, potentially increasing the risk of cancer and heart disease.

“Households with a smoker should set a 'no smoking' policy at home to protect the family. We encourage all New Yorkers who smoke to quit – this is the best way to protect yourself and others."

The study was published this week in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.