GOING 

SMOKEFREE 

MATTERS

www.cdc.gov/tobacco

CS260251-F

Approximately 1 in 3 multiunit 

housing residents are covered by 

smokefree building policies.5

About 8 in 10 multiunit housing 

residents have chosen to make 

their own homes smokefree.5

A majority of multiunit housing 

residents want smoke-free 

building policies.5

• 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.3,4

• 

• 

Smokefree

There is no safe amount of secondhand smoke exposure. 

The home is the main place many children and adults 

breathe in secondhand smoke.1,2

MULTIUNIT HOUSING

Each year, an estimated 28 million multiunit housing 

residents are exposed to secondhand smoke in their 

home or apartment that came from somewhere 

else in their building like a nearby apartment.3,5

Every person living in multiunit housing deserves 

to breathe smokefree air. 

What is government-subsidized housing? 

When the government helps people pay their rent. 

Public housing is one type of subsidized housing.

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Did You Know?

The Surgeon General concluded:

There is no safe level 

of secondhand 

smoke exposure.1

Cleaning the air and 

ventilating buildings 

cannot get rid of 

secondhand smoke.1

Secondhand smoke causes 

disease and early death in 

children and in adults who 

do not smoke.1

Approximately 58 million 

(1 in 4) nonsmokers are 

exposed to secondhand smoke.6

 

About 2 in 5 children (including 7 in 

10 black children) are exposed to 

secondhand smoke.2

Secondhand smoke exposure among 

babies and children can cause1,7:

• 

• 

• 

• 

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Lung problems

Ear infections

Asthma attacks

In the United States:

The home is the main place 

where children are exposed 

to secondhand smoke.1,2

Secondhand smoke exposure 

among adults can cause1,7:

• 

• 

• 

Heart disease

Stroke

Lung Cancer

What is secondhand smoke?

It is the combination of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette 

and the smoke breathed out by a smoker. 

When a person smokes near you, you can be exposed to 

secondhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke can travel into an apartment from other 

apartments and common areas through doorways, cracks 

in walls, electrical lines, ventilation systems and plumbing.1

Opening windows and using fans does not completely remove

secondhand smoke.1

Heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems cannot 

eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke. In fact, these systems 

can distribute secondhand smoke throughout a building.1

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REFERENCES

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report

of the Surgeon General—Executive Summary. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,

Office on Smoking and Health, 2006.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital signs: disparities in nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke — United

States, 1999–2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015;64 (04):103-108.

3. King BA, Babb SD, Tynan MA, Gerzoff RB. National and state estimates of secondhand smoke infiltration among U.S. multiunit

housing residents. Nicotine Tob Res. 2013;15 (7):1316-1321.

4. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Public Housing Agency Profiles available at: http://www.huduser.org/

DATASETS/pdrdatas.html.

5. Andrea S. Licht, Brian A. King, Mark J. Travers, Cheryl Rivard, and Andrew J. Hyland. Attitudes, Experiences, and Acceptance of

Smoke-Free Policies Among US Multiunit Housing Residents. American Journal of Public Health: October 2012, Vol. 102, No. 10, pp.

1868-1871. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300717.

6. Centers for Disease Control. Vital signs: nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke-United States, 1999–2008. MMWR Morb

Mortal Wkly Rep. 2010;59 (35):1141-1146.

7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the

Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014.

8. King BA, Peck RM, Babb SD. National and state cost savings associated with prohibiting smoking in subsidized and public housing

in the United States. Prev Chronic Dis. 2014; 11:40222.

9. Farrelly, M. Loomis, B, et. al. Are tobacco control policies effective in reducing young adult smoking? Journal of Adolescent Health

54 (2014) 481-486

Smokefree rules or policies:

•

• 

Improve Air Quality

Improve Health

• Reduce Secondhand Smoke Exposure

• Receive Public Support

• Reduce Smoking in Youth,

Young Adults, and Adults

If all public housing in the United States was made smokefree, it would save $153 million each year, including

To learn more about your state’s smokefree policies, go to: www.cdc.gov/statesystem

To learn more about the health consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure go to: www.cdc.gov/tobacco

Smokefree policies in multiunit housing can improve health and save money.

and $16 million in costs 

from fires caused by 

smoking.8

$43 million in costs 

from cleaning

apartments where 

people have smoked

Savings would be even greater if all multiunit housing across the country went smokefree.

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