The car, a hotbed of passive smoking

A cigarette smoked in the passenger compartment of a car exposes its passengers to very high levels of nicotine.

According to a 2009 study^[1], nicotine levels measured in smokers' cars exceed those recorded in public or private indoor spaces where smoking is permitted. The researchers who conducted this study placed measuring instruments on the front passenger's headrest as well as on the back seat behind the driver. After analyzing the samples, it turns out that the recorded nicotine levels double after each cigarette smoked. The study concluded that the levels recorded are unacceptable, especially for children: when the windows are closed, the carbon monoxide concentration is two to three times higher than that of a traffic-clogged road during rush hour.^[2].

Opening the window is not enough to dissipate all the smoke. A study shows that even when windows are open, the levels of chemicals in the air are a hundred times higher than the permitted thresholds^[3].

Fine particles deposited on the fabrics of the passenger compartment, which constitute the "tertiary current" (report article tertiary smoking), constitute another danger that persists well after the secondary current. Marisol Touraine's health bill also indicates that "the concentration of fine particles on the rear seats of vehicles is ten times higher in a smoker's car than in a non-smoker's car" (October 2014).

Secondhand smoke causes the deaths of 1.2 million non-smokers worldwide each year through unintentional exposure to smoke. Children are especially vulnerable to tobacco smoke because their lungs are still developing.

©Generation Without Tobacco