A Brown University study on smoking bans and children's asthma attacks investigated the incidence of children's visits to the emergency room in the three years before and after 20 cities banned indoor smoking in public places.
“Across 20 metropolitan areas that introduced clean indoor air regulations during the 2000s, fewer children were seen in the emergency rooms for asthma exacerbations,” Brown University School of Public Health professor and study senior author Theresa Shireman said. “Clean indoor air laws not only reduce expensive health care use, but they also help parents and their children avoid time-consuming, stressful events.”
The study by Shireman and co-authors Dr. Christina Ciaccio of the University of Chicago and Tami Gurley-Calvez of the University of Kansas was published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. While the study only shows an association between second-hand smoke and asthma attacks, smoke is a well-known asthma trigger.
“Children are in a very unique situation in that they have very little control over their environment,” Ciaccio said. “This study shows that even those short exposures to second-hand smoke in public spaces like restaurants can have a significant impact on asthma exacerbations.”
