WASHINGTON — If you live in an apartment, you are more likely to be a smoker or breathe smoky air than someone who lives in a single family home.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s a big problem in private and public housing.
Using data from the 2013–2014 National Adult Tobacco Survey, the CDC found apartment dwellers were more likely to use tobacco products and were far less likely to live smoke-free.
The researchers found that about 20 percent of adults in multi-unit housing communities use combustible tobacco products — cigarettes, cigars and the like — compared with 14 percent in single family homes.
And even though eight in 10 apartments were technically smoke free, about one-third of those living in those units reported dealing with secondhand smoke from elsewhere in the building.
The CDC said it was a worrisome trend because second-hand smoke is dangerous to the health of children, older adults and people with disabilities.
The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
