Smoking bans reduce smoke exposure across socioeconomic spectrum

MAY 7, 2010 | Shelley Wood

Prague, Czech Republic - New research on the effects of smoking bans should help dispel one of the enduring criticisms of smoke-free legislation, namely that sweeping bans benefit those higher on the socioeconomic ladder but potentially increase harmful exposures among society's poorest citizens.

Dr Jennifer Mindell (University College London, UK) presented the new findings here at EuroPREVENT 2010. According to Mindell, skeptics of England's July 1, 2007 smoke-free legislation predicted that banning smoking in public places would produce "inequalities." The theory went as follows: since smoking is more prevalent among people earning lower incomes, with lower education levels, children and nonsmokers in lower socioeconomic classes might actually face increased smoke exposure if smoking family members started lighting up more at home, having been banned from doing so at work.

Mindell et al used data from the Health Survey for England that asked adults across the socioeconomic spectrum about smoking habits and exposure to secondhand smoke. Nurses also visited survey participants, taking saliva samples that were tested for cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine that indicates recent exposure to tobacco smoke—low levels indicating secondhand smoke exposure and levels over 12 ng/mL indicating personal tobacco use./.../