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1.25 Million Apartment, Condo Residents Exposed to Secondhand Smoke

December 20, 2012

Statement from Dr. Fred Jacobs, Chief Medical Officer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network of NY & NJ re: study on secondhand smoke exposure in multi-unit housing.

“Home is supposed to be a safe place, but for 1.25 million New Jerseyans, home is where they are being exposed to toxic secondhand smoke from their neighbors.  A new study shows that for approximately one third of apartment and condo residents, secondhand smoke is seeping through the walls and traveling through ventilation systems. Approximately 3.3 million New Jersey residents live in multi-unit housing.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in New Jersey. Secondhand smoke exposure causes lung cancer and is a deadly cocktail of more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network urges Gov. Christie and the Legislature to enact legislation that informs potential multi-unit housing residents of the smoking policy of a particular building before a lease is signed. That way, consumers can make a fully informed decision about the unit they are purchasing or renting.”

The study appears in the current edition of the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Recently, the American Cancer Society launched the Healthy High Rises program to recognize multi-unit residential buildings that have a smoke-free policy. 

Fred M. Jacobs, M.D., J.D., is the former Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.


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About the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.

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