A new study is one of the first to show that smoking in a car poses a potentially serious health hazard to occupants, particularly children.
The University of Waterloo study also shows that ventilation does not eliminate the hazard.
Researchers found that tobacco smoke pollution (TSP), more commonly known as second-hand smoke, reaches unhealthy levels in cars -- even under realistic ventilation conditions.
In the study, TSP levels were measured in 18 different cars.
Drivers smoked a single cigarette in their cars in each of five controlled air-sampling conditions.
Each condition varied on the car's movement, air conditioning, open windows and combinations of those airflow influences.
With the worst ventilation condition -- windows up and the vehicle parked -- the TSP was about 11 times more than levels at a smoky bar.
Under better ventilated conditions -- the driver's side window down halfway and the cigarette held close to the window -- the TSP was about two-thirds of a smoky bar.
UW psychology professor Geoffrey Fong, who worked on the study, said Thursday that the findings were conducted with exposures to children in mind.
"I think the message of this is that the ventilation attempts just aren't good enough," Fong told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday. "I think legislation also is reasonable because it sets forth a standard of safety for the public."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced recently that his government will propose a new law this spring to ban smoking in vehicles where children are present.
Nova Scotia has a ban and the British Columbia government promised one in its recent throne speech. Manitoba and New Brunswick are both considering a similar law.
TSP is a complex mixture of poisonous gases and chemicals, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, arsenic and benzene.
