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In 2018 to 2019, 90.2% of adults aged 18 years and older reported a smokefree home rule.
Background
Secondhand smoke (SHS) is a mixture of the sidestream smoke released by a smoldering cigarette, pipe, hookah or waterpipe, or cigar, and the mainstream smoke exhaled by a person who smokes. SHS is a complex mixture containing thousands of chemicals, including formaldehyde, cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and nicotine. More than 250 of the chemicals in SHS are known to be harmful, and at least 69 are known to cause cancer.
Conclusive scientific evidence documents that SHS causes premature death and disease in children and adults who do not smoke. Among adults, exposure to SHS has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, and long-term exposure to SHS causes coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Children exposed to SHS are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth.
Many individuals and families, including both people who smoke and people who don’t, have voluntarily adopted smokefree rules for their homes, reflecting a change in community social norms. For children, smoking in the home is the main source of exposure to SHS. Studies have found that adoption of smokefree home rules is a significant predictor of smoking cessation success.
About 80 million (1 in 4) people in the US live in multiunit housing, such as apartments, including about 7 million living in government-subsidized housing. Secondhand smoke can travel between units and into common areas in multiunit housing. To protect nonsmokers living within public housing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development adopted a rule making all public housing smokefree. This rule was implemented in July 2018.
There is no risk-free level of exposure to SHS, and only 100% smokefree indoor air fully protects people who don’t smoke from exposure to SHS.
Measure
The percentage of respondents reporting a smokefree home rule (i.e., that smoking was not allowed anywhere in their home).
Healthy People 2030 Target
- Increase the proportion of smokefree homes to 92.9 percent.
Healthy People 2030 is a set of goals set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Note: Goals are indicated as blue line on Detailed Trend Graphs.
Data Source
National Cancer Institute. Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey for “home smokefree policies” measures.
Trends and Most Recent Estimates
By Sex
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of adults | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Both Sexes
|
90.2 | 90.0 - 90.5 |
Male
|
89.5 | 89.2 - 89.8 | |
Female
|
90.9 | 90.6 - 91.2 | |
By Race/Ethnicity
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of adults | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
All Races/Ethnicities
|
90.2 | 90.0 - 90.5 |
Non-Hispanic White
|
89.9 | 89.6 - 90.2 | |
Non-Hispanic Black
|
86.0 | 85.1 - 86.8 | |
Hispanic
|
93.7 | 93.2 - 94.1 | |
By Age
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of adults | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Ages 18-24
|
90.5 | 89.6 - 91.3 |
Ages 25+
|
90.2 | 90.0 - 90.4 | |
By Sex and Age
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of adults | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Males, ages 18-24
|
90.0 | 88.8 - 91.1 |
Males, ages 25+
|
89.4 | 89.1 - 89.7 | |
Females, ages 18-24
|
90.9 | 89.7 - 92.0 | |
Females, ages 25+
|
90.9 | 90.7 - 91.2 | |
By Poverty Income Level
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of adults | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
< 200% of the federal poverty level
|
85.0 | 84.5 - 85.6 |
>= 200% of the federal poverty level
|
92.5 | 92.3 - 92.8 | |
By Education Level
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of adults | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Less than High School
|
83.5 | 82.4 - 84.5 |
High School
|
85.7 | 85.2 - 86.3 | |
Greater than High School
|
92.7 | 92.5 - 93.0 | |
Additional Information on Smokefree Home Rules
- Secondhand Smoke Exposure. National Cancer Institute.
- Secondhand Smoke and Cancer. National Cancer Institute.
- Tips to Keep a Smoke-free Home & Car. American Academy of Pediatrics.
- The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke. American Academy of Pediatrics.
- Smoke, Vape, and Tobacco-Free Home Rules and Organization Policy. American Lung Association.
- Going Smokefree Matters: In Your Home. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Going Smokefree Matters: Multiunit Housing. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Tobacco Control Evidence-Based Programs Listing. National Cancer Institute.
- Surgeon General’s Reports on Smoking and Tobacco Use. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- 50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2006. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
- This is a Smoke-Free Building! Smoke-Free Policy: Information for Residents. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- Association between smokefree laws and voluntary smokefree-home rules. Cheng KW, Glantz SA, Lightwood JM. Am J Prev Med 2011;41(6):566–72.
- Small Area Estimation of Smoke-free Workplace Polices and Home Rules in U.S. Counties. Liu B, Dompreh I, Hartman AM. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021; [Epub ahead of print]
- Parental home smoking policies: the protective effect of having a young child in the household. Hawkins SS and Berkman L. Prev Med 2011;53(1–2):61–3.
- National and state prevalence of smoke-free rules in homes with and without children and smokers: Two decades of progress. King BA, Patel R, Babb SD, et al. A. Prev Med. 2016 Jan;82:51-8.
- Persistent tobacco smoke residue in multiunit housing: Legacy of permissive indoor smoking policies and challenges in the implementation of smoking bans. Matt GE, Quintana PJE, Hoh E, et al. Prev Med Rep 2020;18:101088.
- SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment. Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Pediatrics 2016;138(5):e20162938.
- Income disparities in smoking cessation and the diffusion of smoke-free homes among U.S. smokers: Results from two longitudinal surveys. Vijayaraghavan M, Benmarhnia T, Pierce JP, et al. PLoS One. 2018;13(7):e0201467.
- Battling tobacco use at home: an analysis of smoke-free home rules among U.S. veterans from 2001 to 2011. Zhang X, Martinez-Donate AP, Cook J, et al. Am J Public Health 2014 Sep;104 Suppl 4: S572-9.
- Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. National Cancer Institute.
- Cancer Facts and Figures. American Cancer Society.
- National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
- State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.