A house full of smoke leads to teens who mope

Scimex: If the physical effects on your children were not good enough reasons to stop smoking in your house, Canadian researchers have found a modest, yet reliable long-term link between exposure to household tobacco smoke and antisocial behaviour in early adolescence. The team recorded 1035 children that were exposed to household smokers at seven follow-up interviews, between 1.5 and 7.5 years old, and at the age of 12, children self-reported on five different aspects of antisocial behaviours, with researchers finding that higher exposure to smoky homes was linked to childrens' behavioural problems, aggression, lack of discipline at school and increased risk of dropping out. The authors suggest that a child's neuro-social development is being influenced by the neurotoxic substances in second-hand smoke, which can lead their newly forming brain pathways towards these deviant behaviours.

Unknown Exposure to Second-hand Smoke Associated with Increased Mortality

Mount Sinai: A new biomarker has identified known and unknown exposure to second-hand smoke and confirmed a strong association to increased mortality in non-smokers, according to a new study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  The results, published this month in the journal Carcinogenesis, provide a more accurate way to gauge second-hand smoke exposure than questionnaires, and present  a strong case for more stringent limits on smoking and increased preventive screenings for those more likely to have been exposed to second-hand smoke.