Secondhand Smoke

• Children exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from ear infections and reduced lung function. Secondhand smoke is especially harmful for children and adults with asthma and other chronic conditions. (1)
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a Class A Carcinogen placing it in the same category as radon, benzene, and asbestos. (1)
• The Surgeon General has declared that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke. (2)
• Researchers at Stanford University discovered that being within a few feet of a smoker outdoors may expose you to air pollution levels that are comparable, on average, to indoor levels. (3)

Litter

• Cigarettes are the most littered item in America and the world. It is estimated that several trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year. They are not biodegradable and can take up to 15 years to break down. (4)
• Small children and pets are at risk of swallowing, choking, or burning themselves with cigarette butts. In 2004, American Poison Control Centers received nearly 8,000 reports of children poisoned by the ingestion of cigarette butts. (1)
• Clean up of tobacco litter from recreational areas is costly to taxpayers. (5)

Modeling

• Children need positive role models in the community; smoking in a family friendly place sends the wrong message to our kids. Kids will see smoking as acceptable and normal. (1)
• 90% of adult smokers are addicted to tobacco before they reach the age of 18. (6)

Young Lungs at Play

• A statewide initiative to eliminate children’s exposure to secondhand smoke at public parks and playgrounds. Tobacco Free Broome and Tioga can assist municipalities and parks directors to:
• Develop a local law, ordinance, policy or resolution that prohibits all forms of tobacco use in parks and playgrounds or specific areas within the town or village;
• Develop an enforcement plan that includes signage; and/or
• Develop a plan to notify and educate park and playground staff as well as the general public.

To learn more about the Young Lungs at Play project, visit "Young Lungs at Play: Preventing Children’s Exposure to Secondhand Smoke in Outdoor Play Areas in a Steps to a HealthierNY County", Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Healt Research, Practice and Policy, October 2007.

Broome and Tioga have a long list of supporters that have made a commitment to keep their outdoor areas tobacco-free.

More and more outdoor areas are becoming tobacco-free. This growing trend has affected parks and playgrounds at both the local and state level, as well as businesses, agencies, and college campuses, just to name a few! To learn more about making your outdoor spaces tobacco-free, take a look at this toolkit: [ The NY Tobacco-Free Outdoor Areas Toolkit ]

1- Capital District Tobacco-Free Coalition. (2011). Tobacco-free outdoor areas. Retrieved from http://www.smokefreecapital.org/TFree_NY/t-free-outdoors.cfm

2- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006.

3- Shwartz, M. (2007, May). Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in outdoor settings a risk, study shows. Retrieved from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/may9/smoking-050907.html

4- Allentown Recycles. (2002). Litter facts. Retrieved from http://www.allentownrecycles.org/dont_trash/facts.jsp

5- Erie Niagara Tobacco Free Coalition, . (n.d.). Smoke free parks and playgrounds. Retrieved from http://www.tobaccofreewny.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Parks-Proposal.pdf

6- New York State Department of Health Advertising, Sponsorship and Promotion Toolkit