Researchers investigate exposure to passive smoke in cars

A study in the US has shown that sitting in a car with a smoker for 1 hour leaves non-smokers exposed to significant levels of passive smoke.

The research, published in the journal, Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, involved 14 non-smokers, who each spent an hour sat in the back seat of a parked car behind a smoker while they smoked three cigarettes. Both the front and back windows of the car were open with a 10 cm gap.

Each non-smoking participant gave urine samples both before and 8 hours after the study, which were analysed for the presence of several chemicals found in cigarette smoke that are known to be harmful.

The researchers found that the levels of seven of these nine chemicals increased significantly after exposure to passive smoke, which highlights the dangers of passive smoking in cars.

Earlier this year, Wales, UK announced that it is to ban smoking in cars carrying children. Smoking in cars with children under the age of 16 is already banned in Cyprus.

Other European countries, including England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Finland, are also looking into a similar ban.

Read the original news story. 

Read the journal article. 

Read more about the impacts of passive smoking on lung health on the SmokeHaz website.