Tobacco affects more children living in apartments

• April 19, 2024

Boys and girls who live in apartment buildings in the United States they have 45% more exposure to tobacco smoke that those who live in houses separated, reported the BBCMundo portal.

The investigation It was carried out at the initiative of the universities of Harvard and Rochester, who found that this high percentage is due to the fact that cigarette smoke seeps through walls and shared systems of ventilation . So some experts in the field point to these results as clear evidence to propose that the departments be declared as tobacco free zones.

The researchers involved analyzed the levels of cotinine (the substance that produces nicotine in the body) in blood samples of 5 thousand children living in homes where none of the inhabitants smoked, and found that 73% of them had been exposed to tobacco smoke indirectly.

In conclusion, it was found that 84.5% of children living in apartment buildings had a cotinine level that indicated a recent exposure to tobacco smoke.

The doctor. Jonathan Winickoff , an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, who led the study, explained that if the neighbors are smoking, the inhabitant will be exposed to the smoke that filters through the wall of a terraced house (construction that shares one or more side walls); so, in the case of departmental buildings this phenomenon increases.

He added that "in the future, many people will not be able to believe that they were ever allowed to smoke in homes where children live, sleep, eat and breathe."

It must be remembered that scientific studies have shown that passive smoking is an important cause of mortality and morbidity, even at low levels of exposure.

Video Medicine: Apartment living can increase secondhand smoke exposure (April 2024).