£% l^pi Jt United States |« IslVjfc EnvironmeRal Protection Agency Children's Environmental Health Disparities: Black and African American Children and Secondhand Smoke This fact sheet focuses on disparities in exposure to secondhand smoke for Black and African American children. This fact sheet also provides important actions that can be taken to protect all children. Pollution in the environment may harm children more than adults.This is because children's bodies are still growing. Also, they eat more, drink more, and breathe more in proportion to their body size than adults. And children's normal behavior can expose them more to pollution. This means that exposure to a given amount of pollution results in a larger quantity of the pollutant in children's bodies compared to adults. Children of racial and ethnic mi- norities and poor children may be exposed to more pollution.93Thus, they may face the biggest health risks from pollution.This fact sheet describes Black and African Ameri- can children's health risks related to secondhand smoke. It tells you how you can take actions to protect all children. What is Secondhand Smoke? Secondhand smoke, or environ- mental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mix of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar and smoke exhaled by smokers. It contains more than 4,000 chemi- cals, many of which cause cancer.24 Secondhand smoke is especially bad for children because their bod- ies are developing, and because they breathe at higher rates than adults do. Secondhand smoke is a major trigger for asthma.94'95'96,97'98 99 Studies have linked secondhand smoke to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, pneu- monia, and ear infections.100101' 102 Each year the US spends more than $700 million on children's medical costs due to secondhand smoked90 Children born to women exposed to ETS while pregnant have shown signs of delayed development in speech and lan- guage, learning, and memory.25 26 Smoking in the home is a key source of secondhand smoke. Kids spend most of their time at home and indoors. A national survey found that almost 3 mil- lion children (11%) aged 6 and under are exposed to secondhand smoke at home four or more days per week.27This survey also found that exposure to secondhand smoke was higher in households with low income and educa- tional levels, and higher in African American households regardless of the age of the children. Older children are also at risk from exposure at home and school.Twenty-two percent of middle school students and 24% of high school students are ex- posed to secondhand smoke in the home.91 Exposure to secondhand smoke has declined during the 1990s. Education campaigns about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke may have played a role in the decline.29 Many of these efforts now target teens and parents of children with asthma. What Can You Do? If you smoke, don't smoke in your home and car. Don't allow family and visitors to do so, either. Secondhand Smoke Visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm or call (202) 564-2188. ------- EPA100F08030 Moving to another room or open- ing a window is not enough to protect your children. Smoke out- side until you can quit, away from children, and away from doors and windows to prevent the smoke from entering the home. Don't smoke if you are preg- nant or near someone who is pregnant. Take the EPA Smoke-Free Home Pledge: Call 1-866-SMOKE-FREE (1-866-766-5337) or visit: http:// www.epa.gov/iaq/ets/pledge/iridex. html. For more information on how to protect kids from ETS, visit http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ets/. What's Being Done? Here are some examples of efforts by Federal governmental agencies, local and national orga- nizations to address secondhand smoke. EPA's Smoke-Free Homes Pro- gram website can help you keep your home smoke-free. It offers bilingual brochures explaining the dangers of secondhand smoke that you can download.To learn more, visit http://www.epa.gov/smokefree/. The Ad Council and EPA work together on the National Childhood Asthma Public Service Campaign. The Campaign raises awareness about secondhand smoke and oth- er asthma triggers. It also provides tips for parents about simple steps they can take to help their child.To view the radio andTV campaign materials, available in English and Spanish, visit www.noattacks.org. The Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention (CDC) has a bilingualTobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS) website. TIPS describes the health hazards of smoking. It features a Tips 4 Youth section, where kids can test their knowledge. It also has fact sheets and posters for anti-smok- ing campaigns.The site describes community action plans and state anti-tobacco programs. For more information, visit http://www.cdc. gov/tobacco/index.htm. Healthy and asthma-friendly schools are free of tobacco. CDC offers an easy-to-use self- assessment and planning tool for schools to improve their health and safety programs.To access this tool, visit http://apps.nccd.cdc. gov/ SHI/Defaultaspx. Many workplaces and other facilities are now smoke-free.The American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation tracks tobacco control regulations in a database. It pub- lishes maps and lists of smoke-free cities, states, universities, hotels, airports, restaurants, and other venues.To learn more, visit http:// www.no-smoke.org/goingsmokefree. php?id=519. Chemicals from secondhand smoke can be measured in the blood. A study found that levels of cotinine, a breakdown product of nicotine that can be measured in blood, were on average four times higher in Black children than White children30 RESOURCES: For more information on children's environmental health, visit tlie EPA's Office of Children s Health Protection and Environmental Education athttp://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm. You can also call the office at (202) 564-2188 ¦America's Children and the Environment data/indicators, http://www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children/index.htmn ¦ Office of Minority Health, Centers for Disease Contro and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/omh/ ¦ Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units, www. aoec.org/PEHSU.htm or call toll free 1-888-347-2632 ¦ National Center on Minority Health and Health Dispari ties, National Institutes of Health, http://ncmhd.nih.gov/ ¦African American Health Care and Medical Information, http://www.blackhealthcare.com ¦African American Health Network, National Medical Association, http:/7www.aahn.com ¦ Kaiser Family Foundation Health Disparities Report A Weekly Look at Race, Ethnicity and Health/ http:// kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_disparities.cfm ¦ DiversityData, Harvard School of Public Health web- site on indicators of how people of different racial/ ethnic backgrounds live includes comparative data about housing, neighborhood conditions, residential integration, and education, www.DiversityData.org ¦ Unnatural Causes, a TV documentary series and public outreach campaign on the causes of socio- economic racial/ethnic inequities s in health, http:// www.unnaturalcauses.org/ Visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm or call (202) 564-2188. ------- |