Nearly half of nonsmoking Black persons had evidence in their blood of exposure to secondhand smoke, compared with less than a quarter of nonsmoking Whites and one-sixth of Mexican Americans. That is the finding of a nationally-representative health survey of Americans in 2017-2018.
Secondhand smoke is one of the causes of sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections and asthma attacks in infants and children, as well as heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. In households with smokers, Black individuals are less likely than White individuals to have a complete ban on smoking in the home.
See the full text of the scientific paper “Disparities in Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018” by Surendra S. Shastri et al. (November 23, 2020)
