Ban on smoking in cars reduces second-hand smoke among children

The dangers of second-hand smoke have been well established for many years. The WHO treaty states that "Scientific evidence has established unequivocally that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability[1]"The risks of this exposure have led countries to protect their populations by banning smoking in closed public places or places of work.

These bans are increasingly being extended to outdoor areas as knowledge of the risks of passive smoking increases and in response to demand from both non-smokers and smokers.

Some private places are also now affected. This is the case of the ban on smoking in a car in the presence of a minor.

Such a provision has been in force in France since the adoption of the law on the modernization of the health system in January 2016.

The same has been true in England and Scotland since 2015, where the provision was assessed.

British researchers sought to measure the impact of this measure on the health of young people. The researchers from Imperial College London surveyed adolescents aged 13 to 15. They asked them how often, over the past year, they had traveled in the presence of an adult smoker who had consumed tobacco during the car journey.

The proportion of children exposed to second-hand smoke in Scotland fell from 3.4% in 2012 to 1.3% in 2016. And from 6.3% to 1.6% for England. That is a decrease of 72% compared to the period before the ban. To date, such data are not available for France. Given the vulnerability of children to second-hand smoke, reducing exposure is a real public health issue not only in terms of reducing exposure to risk but also in terms of the initiation of smoking among the youngest.