Visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm or call (202) 564-2188.

Children’s Environmental Health Disparities: Hispanic

and Latino American Children and Secondhand Smoke

This fact sheet focuses on disparities in exposure to secondhand smoke for Hispanic children. 

This fact sheet also provides important actions that can be taken to protect all children. 

Pollution in the environment may 

harm children more than adults. This 

is because children’s bodies are still 

growing. Also, they eat more, drink 

more, and breathe more in proportion to their body size than adults. 

And children’s normal behavior can 

expose them more to pollution. This 

means that exposure to a given 

amount of pollution results in a larger 

quantity of the pollutant in children’s 

bodies compared to adults. 

Children of racial and ethnic 

minorities and poor children may be 

exposed to more pollution.93 Thus, 

they may face the biggest health 

risks from pollution. This fact sheet 

describes Hispanic children’s health 

risks related to secondhand smoke. It 

tells you how you can take actions to 

protect all children. 

What is Secondhand 

Smoke? 

Secondhand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mix 

of smoke from the burning end of a 

cigarette, pipe, or cigar and smoke 

exhaled by smokers. It contains more 

than 4,000 chemicals, many of which 

cause cancer.24 Secondhand smoke 

is especially bad for children because 

their bodies are developing, and 

because they breathe at higher rates 

than adults do. 

Secondhand smoke is a major trigger for asthma.94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 Studies have linked secondhand smoke 

to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome 

(SIDS), bronchitis, pneumonia, and 

ear infections.100, 101, 102 Each year the 

US spends more than $700 million 

on children’s medical costs due to 

secondhand smoke.90 Children born to 

women exposed to ETS while pregnant have shown signs of delayed 

development in speech and language, 

learning, and memory.25, 26 

Smoking in the home is a key 

source of ETS. Kids spend most of 

their time at home and indoors. A 

national survey found that almost 3 

million children (11%) aged 6 and 

under are exposed to ETS at home 

four or more days per week.27 This 

survey also found that exposure to 

secondhand smoke was higher in 

households with low income and 

educational levels. 

Older children are also at risk 

from exposure at home and school. 

Twenty-two percent of middle 

school students and 24% of high 

school students are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.91 

Hispanics have lower rates of 

smoking than other racial or ethnic 

groups. For example, fewer Hispanics smoke on a daily basis (11%) 

compared with Whites (16%), 

Blacks (14%), and other races 

(14%).71 This suggests that Hispanic 

children may have lower second 

hand smoke exposure. 

However, smoking rates differ 

among Hispanic groups. For example, Puerto Rican and Cuban-American women have higher rates of 

heavy-smoking (more than 1⁄2 pack 

per day) than Mexican-American 

women (49% compared to 19%).92 

Also, the longer a foreign born 

Hispanic person lives in the US, 

Visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm or call (202) 564-2188. 

Secondhand Smoke 
the more likely he or she will start 

smoking. For example, 95% of 

Mexican-born mothers ban smoking 

in their homes, compared with 78% 

of US-born Hispanic mothers.67, 68, 69 

So smoking may become a more 

serious problem for Hispanics and 

increase their children’s exposure to 

secondhand smoke, the longer they 

live in the US. 

Overall, exposure to secondhand 

smoke declined during the 1990s. 

Education campaigns about the 

dangers of smoking and secondhand 

smoke may have played a role in the 

decline.29 Many of these efforts now 

target teens and parents of children 

with asthma. While smoking rates 

are generally lower among Hispanics, 

efforts need to be directed at keeping 

those rates low to protect children. 

What Can You Do? 

If you smoke, don’t smoke in your 

home and car. Don’t allow family and 

visitors to do so, either. Moving to 

another room or opening a window is 

not enough to protect your children. 

Smoke outside until you can quit, 

away from children, and away from 

doors and windows to prevent the 

smoke from entering the home. 

Don’t smoke if you are pregnant 

or near someone who is pregnant. 

Take the EPA Smoke-Free Home 

Pledge: Call 1-866-SMOKE-FREE (1-

866-766-5337) or visit: http://www. 

epa.gov/iaq/ets/pledge/index.html. 

For more information on how to 

protect kids from ETS, visit http:// 

www.epa.gov/iaq/ets/. 

What’s Being Done? 

Here are some examples of efforts 

by Federal governmental agencies, 

local and national organizations to address secondhand smoke. 

EPA’s Smoke-Free Homes Program website can help you keep your 

home smoke-free. It offers bilingual 

brochures explaining the dangers 

of secondhand smoke that you can 

download. To learn more, visit http:// 

www.epa.gov/smokefree/. 

The Ad Council and EPA work 

together on the National Childhood 

Asthma Public Service Campaign. 

The Campaign raises awareness 

about secondhand smoke and other 

asthma triggers. It also provides tips 

for parents about simple steps they 

can take to help their child. To view 

the radio and TV campaign materials, 

available in English and Spanish, visit 

www.noattacks.org. 

EPA100F08032 

The Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC) has a bilingual 

Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS) website. TIPS 

describes the health hazards of 

smoking. It features a Tips 4 Youth 

section, where kids can test their 

knowledge. It also has fact sheets 

and posters for anti-smoking campaigns. The site describes community 

action plans and state anti-tobacco 

programs. For more information, visit 

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/index.htm. 

Healthy and asthma-friendly 

schools are free of tobacco. CDC 

offers an easy-to-use self-assessment and planning tool for schools 

to improve their health and safety 

programs. To access this tool, visit 

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ SHI/Default.aspx. 

Many workplaces and other 

facilities are now smoke-free. The 

American Nonsmokers’ Rights 

Foundation tracks tobacco control 

regulations in a database. It publishes 

maps and lists of smoke-free cities, 

states, universities, hotels, airports, 

restaurants, and other venues. To 

learn more, visit http://www.no-smoke. 

org/goingsmokefree.php?id=519. 

Smoking rates differ among 

Hispanic groups. For example, 

Puerto Rican and CubanAmerican women have higher 

rates of heavy-smoking than 

Mexican-American women. 

RESOURCES: 

For more information on children’s environmental health, visit the 

EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education at http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm. You can also call the office at (202) 564–2188. 

n America’s Children and the Environment data/indicators, http:// 

www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children/index.htmn 

n Office of Minority Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/omh/ 

n Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units, www.aoec. 

org/PEHSU.htm or call toll free 1–888–347–2632 

n National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National n Unnatural Causes, a TV documentary series and public outreach 

Institutes of Health, http://ncmhd.nih.gov/ campaign on the causes of socioeconomic racial/ethnic inequities s 

n National Alliance for Hispanic Health, http://www.hispanichealth.org/ in health, http://www. unnaturalcauses.org/ 

n National Council of La Raza, http://www.nclr.org/ 

n Kaiser Family Foundation Health Disparities Report: A Weekly Look 

at Race, Ethnicity and Health/ http:// kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_disparities.cfm 

n DiversityData, Harvard School of Public Health website on indicators 

of how people of different racial/ethnic backgrounds live includes 

comparative data about housing, neighborhood conditions, residential 

integration, and education, www.DiversityData.org 

Visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm or call (202) 564-2188.