Parents urged to establish tobacco free homes and cars to protect children.

January 12, 2010, Washington, D.C. – What do roach motels, mothballs, and battery acid have in common with cigarette smoke? All contain the same poisons also found in secondhand smoke. This is one of the primary reasons the District has banned smoking in all public and private workplaces. In observance of Poison Prevention Awareness Month, the DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign (DCTFF) is launching a metro transit campaign urging parents and guardians to keep secondhand smoke out their homes and cars for the safety of children.

“Everyday, thousands of District children are exposed to more than 250 poisons from parents/guardians smoking in their homes and cars. The US Surgeon General in 2006 firmly stated that this exposure leads to serious chronic illnesses, such as upper respiratory infections, asthma and serious asthma attacks, and possibly death,” says Rolando Andrewn, President and CEO of ALADC. “This campaign will encourage the adoption of tobacco free homes and cars to protect District children in particular.”

Tobacco smoke contains more than 250 deadly poisons, including lead, benzene, arsenic, cyanide, carbon monoxide, and nickel. Tobacco smoke exposure is implicated as a major cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), chronic respiratory disease, asthma, ear infections, and lung cancer. To find out more, visit http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/index.html for the 2006 Report of the Surgeon General on the Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke.

DC residents seeking help to quit smoking can call the District’s free Quitline services to receive free nicotine patches, lozenges and counseling with a Certified Tobacco Dependence Treatment Specialist. To receive copies of the secondhand smoke campaign posters and materials, call the American Lung Association of DC at 202-464-4325.

The transit campaign, ingeniously created by Communications-Marketing agency, Elevation, will be displayed prominently in metro stations and bus shelters. This is just one in a series of media campaigns DCTFF has launched over the past three years to reduce tobacco use in the District and to improve quality of life for residents. Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure are responsible for more than 400,000 deaths a year nationwide and more than 700 deaths in the District, and is still the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the country.

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About DCTFF: DCTFF is a partnership of the American Lung Association of DC, the DC Cancer Consortium, and the DC Department of Health.

About the DC Cancer Consortium: The DC Cancer Consortium is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the reduction of cancer in the District of Columbia through prevention, improved treatment and research, and the funder of the secondhand smoke campaign.