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PASSIVE SMOKING, GAS COOKING, AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH OF CHILDREN LIVING IN SIX CITIES
Citation:
Ware, J., D. Dockery, A. Spiro, III, F. Speizer, B. Ferris, AND Jr. PASSIVE SMOKING, GAS COOKING, AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH OF CHILDREN LIVING IN SIX CITIES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-84/059.
Description:
As part of a longitudinal study of the respiratory health effects of indoor and outdoor air pollutants, pulmonary function, respiratory illness history, and symptom history were recorded at 2 successive annual examinations of 10,106 white children living in 6 cities in the United States. Parental education, illness history, and smoking habits also were recorded, along with the fuel used for cooking in the child's home. Maternal cigarette smoking was associated with increases of 20 to 35% in the rates of 8 respiratory illnesses and symptoms investigated, and paternal smoking was associated with smaller but still substantial increases. Illness and symptom rates were linearly related to the number of cigarettes smoked by the child's mother. Illness rates were higher for children of current smokers than for children of ex-smokers. The associations between maternal smoking status and childhood respiratory illnesses and symptoms were reduced but not eliminated by adjustment for parental illness history.