R.I. campaign promotes smoke-free cars, homes

A new campaign from the R.I. Department of Health is encouraging smokers to avoid lighting up in their cars or homes, stressing the dangers to children and household pets.
The campaign features, among others, a billboard with a dog wearing a gas mask and an ad with a picture of a young mother and the caption, “Julie smokes two packs a day. So does her baby.”
In a news release, health officials noted that secondhand smoke contains at least 250 carcinogenic chemicals. A 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s report showed that non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25 to 30 percent, and their lung cancer risk by 20 to 30 percent.
In children, officials noted, secondhand smoke can also trigger asthma attacks and cause ear infections and upper respiratory disease, and in homes where smoking occurs, the rate of sudden infant death syndrome is higher than in smoke-free homes.
In addition, officials noted, recent studies show that secondhand smoke can cause oral cancer and lymphoma in cats, lung and nasal cancer in dogs, and lung cancer in birds.
“Every year, 53,000 children in Rhode Island are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes,” said Dr. David R. Gifford, the state health director. “Children’s lungs are not fully developed and are more susceptible to permanent damage. Any exposure to secondhand smoke is unhealthy and dangerous, particularly to kids and pets.”
For more information and resources to help smokers quit, go to www.health.ri.gov/tobacco/.