Lung Health News, Spring/Summer 2006
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) unanimously voted to identify secondhand tobacco smoke as a "toxic air contaminant" after a comprehensive report linked it with a number of adverse health effects, including asthma in children and breast cancer in non-smoking women. California is the first state in the nation to formally declare secondhand smoke a cancer-causing toxic chemical and CARB will now be required to come up with a plan to reduce the public’s exposure to it.
The American Lung Association of California has been warning the public about the health risks posed by secondhand smoke for decades and actively supported the action, providing testimony at the CARB hearing and commenting on the issue in numerous news reports. The new classification emphasizes the need to continue our efforts to protect children and adults from the toxic pollutant and could mobilize local communities to address issues such as smoke-free apartments and smoking in cars while children are present.
