Homes and Cars Press Releases

KIISS Seeks to Protect Placer County Children from Secondhand Smoke

CONTACT:
Paul McIntyre or
Anne Naughton
(916) 780-0226
Immediate Release: March 8, 2002

Kids Involuntarily Inhaling Secondhand Smoke (KIISS), a Roseville based nonprofit organization, has launched a program through the Placer County Children and Families Commission to protect children from the serious health risks resulting from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

Adults in California have been protected from secondhand smoke in the workplace for seven years now thanks to the passage of AB 13, the nation's strictest workplace smoking ban. But young children who spend their time outside the work environment are not afforded those same protections.

Children who are regularly exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke in the home and car suffer as a result, four times higher rates of bronchitis, colds, pneumonia, ear aches and other respiratory infections. Secondhand smoke exposed children also suffer higher rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), asthma, and an increased likelihood of contracting certain types of cancers later in life.

KIISS President Paul McIntyre said, "Unfortunately for kids, they have little say in determining whether smoking is allowed in their home or car when they are present. So, we have produced a KIISS Kit that encourages parents and guardians to make their homes and cars smoke free for their children's sake."

The KIISS Kit provides important information about the dangers of secondhand smoke and has a pledge to sign declaring the home and car smoke free. It also contains decals to post on the home and car to remind pledge signers and others, of their commitment to make these areas healthy, smoke-free environments for children.

While the dangers of secondhand smoke are just now coming to light, McIntyre says "the 43 carcinogens in secondhand smoke are not to be taken lightly." Secondhand smoke kills 53,000 people annually and has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Group A Carcinogen - a known cause of cancer in humans.

"If a person was living in an asbestos-filled home they'd want to eradicate the problem immediately. Yet secondhand smoke kills many more people than asbestos ever did," according to McIntyre.

KIISS is most concerned about children ages zero to five, which is the group targeted by the Placer County Children and Families Commission. The Prop. 10 tobacco tax that the commission collects is aimed at advancing healthy mental and physical development during the critical first five years of life.

KIISS Kits will be made available at a variety of Placer County Health Fairs and educational venues. They can also be ordered FREE on-line from KIISS' web site at www.kiiss.org.

Founded in 2000, KIISS is made up of individuals who were influential in passing California's workplace and restaurant smoking ban AB 13 in 1994. In addition to its home and car work in Placer County, KIISS is working with the restaurant industry nationwide to create smoke-free workplace and restaurant environments such as California has enjoyed for the past seven years.