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An Australian study reported in the March issue of Indoor Air found that parents who smoke outside their house are still exposing their children to the harmful effects of passive smoking. The study found that the levels of respirable suspended particles, including nicotine, were significantly higher in houses where smokers lived than in smoke-free homes — even if the parents only smoked outside.
Lead author of the study, Dr Krassi Rumchev of Curtin University of Technology, says the findings indicate that the level of passive smoking by children at home may be underestimated, as those whose parents smoked outside were exposed to levels of environmental tobacco smoke high enough to cause harm. "According to the study, smoking outdoors seems inadequate to protect children," Rumchev says. "[The] results demonstrate clearly that if parents want a smoke-free environment for children, they need to stop smoking."
She adds that children were more likely to have respiratory illnesses including asthma, coughs, and colds than those in tobacco-free households. She says smokers appear to disperse pollutants into the home when returning inside. "When people come inside they're still breathing out smoke and it contaminates the air. It's enough to do harm," Rumchev says. "Nicotine attaches to the hair and body, and pollutants are dispersed into the air off clothes, because small particles can attach to clothes."
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