Children who live in apartments have more tobacco in their blood than those who live in houses

New study suggest that Children who live in apartments have more tobacco contaminants in their blood than those who live in houses. One of the study authors, Dr. Jonathon Winickoff at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said he believes his findings will help create the social and political will to push people toward establishing smoke free housing policies.Research has linked second hand smoke to a host of health conditions in kids, including ear infections,respiratory infection ssudden  infant death syndrome and low test scores.

They also found that tobacco contaminant levels were highest in children under 12, those who were black, and those living below the federal poverty level. The study authors suggest that children in apartment style housing are exposed to higher levels of tobacco smoke because of shared walls, ventilation systems and duct work. Second hand smoke can seep through these shared structures and into apartments in which no one smokes inside the home.

Once the second hand smoke is no longer visible to the eye, it can still be absorbed by toys, furniture,curtains, carpets,clothing,, and other items that children come into contact with and even put in their mouths. Most experts and doctors said they support the findings, which add to evidence that smoking affects not only the smoker and those in close contact, but also everyone in the smoker’s vicinity. Dr. Nanci Yuan, associate clinical professor at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University in California, said she has concerns not only about smoking’s impact on smokers themselves, but also on others like children and pregnant women.