That smoker sitting next to you could be making you crazy…literally. A new study suggests exposure to secondhand smoke can cause anguish and psychiatric disorders. In the United States alone, approximately 60 percent of non-smokers show signs and symptoms of secondhand smoke. Previous research looking at animal data suggests tobacco induces negative moods and feelings. Recent research at the University College of London looked at 5,560 adult non-smokers and 2,595 adult smokers who participated in a Scottish Health Survey. Those who participated in the survey were asked multiple questions about distress, and researchers followed up with each participant for the first six years to monitor if any were admitted into psychiatric hospitals. Secondhand smoke levels among non-smokers were tested by checking saliva levels.
Results showed that 14.5 percent of those questioned reported some form of psychological distress. However, what was even more remarkable was that those who were non-smokers were shown to have higher chances of distress as opposed to those who actually did the smoking themselves.
Researchers continued to follow-up with their participants over six years, and they found that 41 people had been admitted into a psychiatric hospital. Furthermore, they were able to find that those exposed to secondhand smoke were hospitalized for other psychiatric illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a prospective association between objectively assessed secondhand smoke exposure and mental health in a representative sample of a general population,” study authors concluded
Rates of smoking in the home have declined sharply since 2000, both across the state and in the county. The number of people in Washington who smoke in their homes has dropped 61 percent since 2000, part of growing public awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke. Approximately 1 in 5 people reported that they smoked in their homes in statewide telephone phone surveys of health issues in 2000, according to the state Department of Health.
That dropped to about 1 in 13 in 2008, according to the state Department of Health. “I think the message is really getting across that secondhand smoke really is a danger,” said Annie Peterson, a tobacco prevention specialist for the Snohomish Health District.
The decline in smoking rates in homes in Snohomish County over the same period was nearly as great — down nearly 58 percent, according to the Snohomish Health District. People giving up smoking in their homes has dropped about double the rate of people giving up smoking altogether.
In December 2005, Washington became the fifth state to prohibit smoking in restaurants, bars and taverns and all other workplaces. Peterson said that the health district, which is charged with enforcing the state’s indoor smoking ban in public places, gets almost as many complaints about secondhand smoke as it does of smokers not complying with the state law.
“It cuts across all income levels, both rental housing and condos,” Peterson said.
Tobacco smoke can seep into nearby rooms or even other living units through light fixtures and electrical outlets, she said. “I hear a lot from people struggling with smoke coming into their apartment,” she added. “It’s a lifestyle compromise that’s happening, getting in the way of people being able to enjoy their space.”
The only way to truly prevent smoke from one living unit seeping into a neighbor’s dwelling is to ban indoor smoking in housing units, she said.
Senior Services of Snohomish County, a nonprofit housing agency, took that step in July 2008. It has 703 units at 17 locations in Snohomish County.
People who want to smoke must leave their building, even when the weather is harsh.
“We’ve had requests to build gazebos to make it more comfortable,” said Tim Mierau, director of housing maintenance, but he has declined. “I do not feel like it’s a good use of taxpayers’ money to spend money to build gazebos for smokers.”
An in-home smoking ban will go into effect at the Everett Housing Authority in June of next year.
Nationally, secondhand smoke is believed to have caused an estimated 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 heart disease deaths among nonsmokers each year. In Washington, an estimated 300 people die each year from complications of exposure to secondhand smoke, according to state health officials.
People living in households with an annual income of less than $25,000 and those with a high school education and dropouts are nearly twice as likely to report that someone in their home is smoking, said Tim Church, a state Department of Health spokesman.
The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that there are no safe levels of secondhand smoke, Church said. And secondhand smoke can put children at risk for bronchitis and other respiratory infections.
“You really are putting your family in danger if you’re just smoking for five minutes from the time you pick up your kids from school until you get home,” he said. “Or if you’re taking a quick puff in your bedroom and your kid is in the room next door.
“Sometimes people kid themselves into thinking a little bit is OK. A little bit day after day after day is just not OK.”
Steady decline
State rates for smoking in the home from 2000 through 2008. (2001 and 2002 data are not available because the question was not asked on state health telephone surveys during those years).
That smoker sitting next to you could be making you crazy…literally. A new study suggests exposure to secondhand smoke can cause anguish and psychiatric disorders. In the United States alone, approximately 60 percent of non-smokers show signs and symptoms of secondhand smoke. Previous research looking at animal data suggests tobacco induces negative moods and feelings. Recent research at the University College of London looked at 5,560 adult non-smokers and 2,595 adult smokers who participated in a Scottish Health Survey. Those who participated in the survey were asked multiple questions about distress, and researchers followed up with each participant for the first six years to monitor if any were admitted into psychiatric hospitals. Secondhand smoke levels among non-smokers were tested by checking saliva levels.
