Many children still breathe secondhand smoke

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that even though smoke exposure is down, 58 million Americans still breathe secondhand smoke. It said two of every five children, including seven in 10 black children, are still exposed.

Secondhand smoke causes early death and disease in nonsmokers. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke; even brief exposure can be harmful.

The findings on secondhand smoke:

• About 58 million Americans—1 in 4 nonsmokers—are still exposed to secondhand smoke. Some population groups are exposed at much higher rates than the population as a whole.

• Nearly half of black nonsmokers are exposed, including 7 in 10 black children.

• About 2 in 5 children (about 15 million) ages 3 to 11 years old are exposed.

• More than 2 in 5 nonsmokers who live below the poverty level are exposed.

• More than 1 in 3 nonsmokers who live in rental housing are exposed. About 80 million Americans live in multi-unit housing, many of whom rent.

For more details, visit the Vital Signs webpage at www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/