2009-08-12 00:04:34 - Smokers have reportedly been barred from adopting -- or serving as foster parents for -- children of any age because of the health problems secondhand tobacco smoke poses to children. As a government official explained: “The health, safety and well-being of children and young people are at the heart of policies and practices related to children." This new move goes beyond similar rulings in other jurisdictions which apply only to children under a certain age.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/07/25/smokers-banned-by-welsh-council-from-adopting-or-fostering-children-91466-24235809/

Those voting for the proposal were also told that: “Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at serious risk of pneumonia, bronchitis, headaches and ear infections. Exposure to second-hand smoke has also been linked to the development and worsening of asthma in children. Young children are particularly susceptible to the effects of second-hand smoke because their lungs and airways are small and their immune systems immature. Being exposed to second-hand smoke during childhood may also increase the chance of developing chronic constructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer as adults."

The policy is simple and clear, and apparently does not permit any exceptions: "Our policy within Merthyr Tydfil is that we will not consider anyone who smokes because of the associated

health risks for children." http://www.merthyr.gov.uk/Home/Social+Care+and+Welfare/Children/Frequently+Asked+Questions.htm

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America's first antismoking organization, has helped convince more than a dozen states to prohibit smoking in homes where foster children live, and also helped to persuade judges in the great majority of states to issue orders prohibiting smoking in the homes of children involved in custody disputes. ASH Wales was a major factor in persuading the Merthyr Tydfil Council to take this latest step, which involves both adoption and foster care.

However, this move is not unprecedented. Several years ago a couple has been told they cannot adopt a child because the husband smokes, even though he claims he never smokes indoors. Indeed, the prohibition stands until he quits smoking for six months and provides medical documentation that he is no longer a smoker.

"This is just the latest step in a growing movement to protect the most vulnerable and most defenseless victims of tobacco smoke pollution," public interest lawyer John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), commented at the time.

As a matter of fact, says Banzhaf, even years ago, when the dangers of smoking around children were far less well appreciated, ten percent of social workers specializing in adoption turned down potential parents because one or both smoked.

"Smoking kills thousands of children every year (largely from respiratory infections), is a major factor in SIDS, and causes millions of medical problems in kids each year ranging from asthmatic attacks (and new cases of asthma) to ear aches, so protecting young children from tobacco smoke is long overdue," says Banzhaf.

"A growing number of people consider smoking around children to be the most prevalent and dangerous form of child abuse, so it is not surprising that an adoption agency would want to protect their wards, to whom they owe both a legal (fiduciary) duty and a moral obligation."

SMOKING VS SMOKING IN THE HOME

Some have wondered why all smokers are banned from adopting or fostering, even if they do not directly expose their children to secondhand tobacco smoke by smoking in the home. ASH has several answers: [ALSO SEE NUMEROUS LINKS BELOW]

THIRD HAND TOBACCO SMOKE: Even if parents never smoke inside a home, they nevertheless expose their children to "third hand smoke" – "the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers' hair and clothing" [NY TIMES] – which has been labeled in the medical journal Pediatrics as "toxic" and as a cancer risk to nonsmokers of all ages, especially to children of parents who smoke only outside the family home.

This substance, previously known simply as "tobacco smoke residue," contains highly carcinogenic compounds, heavy metals, hydrogen cyanide (used in chemical weapons), butane (used in lighter fluid), toluene (in paint thinners), arsenic, lead, and even radioactive Polonium-210 (used to murder a Russian spy).

At least one federal court has held that an employee whose health is adversely affected by tobacco smoke residue has a cause of action under the Americans With Disabilities Act [ADA] against an employer who refused to reduce this exposure to this substance in his workplace.

Also, a complaint by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) recently forced a university to protect a woman and her unborn child whose health was threatened by tobacco smoke residue on the clothing of an office mate who smoked outdoors, but never in the office with her.

In addition to these two situations in which a nonsmoking man and woman (and her unborn child) were expressly protected from third hand smoke, several courts have recognized at least by implication the right of children to be protected from third hand smoke.

Among the judges in dozens of states which have issued court orders protecting children involved in custody disputes from smoking in the home, many have stipulated that there be no smoking 24 or even 48 hours before the child's expected arrival, thereby recognizing the danger that third hand smoke presents.

In addition, in many of the states which now protect foster children from tobacco smoke, smoking is banned in the home even when the child is not present, another indication of the need to protect children from third hand as well as second hand tobacco smoke, says Banzhaf.

SMOKER'S BREATH: "SMOKERS’ BREATH IS HARMFUL TO HEALTH" is the message from a recent study which showed that smokers who smoked only outdoors nevertheless emitted enough respirable suspended particles in their breath when they returned indoors to create air pollution which is "harmful" to children.

The study found that the chemicals in smokers’ breath were sufficient to cause or aggravate respiratory illnesses including asthma, coughs, and colds among children in smokers’ homes as compared with kids in homes with only nonsmokers. Respiratory illnesses were found to be much more prevalent in homes with smokers. Children exposed to higher air nicotine levels were three times more likely to have asthma or wheeze than those not exposed.

In short, notes ASH, a parent who smokes only outside the home can nevertheless subject his child to "smokers' breath" containing enough respirable suspended particles to create air pollution which is "harmful" to children.

ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMS: In situations where a smoker claims he or she never smokes within the home, there may be no way for the authorities to independently confirm that, and to make sure that there are never any exceptions -- e.g., when the weather is very cold, when the parent is too ill to go outdoors, after he or she suffers a leg or back injury, etc.

Thus it may not be unreasonable for a social welfare agency to adopt a rule prohibiting adoptions -- or, in this newer case, also including fostering -- where one or both prospective parents smokes, and therefore may well be addicted to nicotine. For similar reasons, a welfare agency might not wish to take a chance and place a child with someone with a history of addiction to alcohol or illegal drugs, even if he promises not to abuse alcohol or to use illegal drugs in the home.

Otherwise the health and perhaps even the life of a child could be put at risk, especially since there is no way an agency could possibly monitor for -- much less prevent -- any smoking in the home by a new parent who is a smoker. A similar problem would also apply to anyone with a history of alcohol or drug addiction.

Moreover, if a violation occurred once the child had been placed for adoption, or if the parent simply decided to change his practice and to begin smoking within the family home once the adoption became final, it might be very difficult as well as expensive for the social welfare agency to then remove the child from the home.

"If a natural parent of a child can lose custody by endangering the welfare of his or her own child by smoking in his presence -- as has happened in several situations -- it should not be surprising that smoking can also be a barrier to an adoption; i.e., where there is no biological connection between the adults and the child, and no bond has yet been created," says Banzhaf.

If, as the father claimed in the earlier situation, he was "desperate" to adopt a child, he should be willing to quit smoking, suggests Banzhaf. Many people spend thousands of dollars to adopt, and may be required to make other significant changes in their lifestyles, notes Banzhaf.

If the parent smokes, the child is also substantially more likely to become a smoker himself, even if the father never smokes in his presence. Also, the child is also substantially more likely to lose his father prematurely due to smoking, whether the smoking occurs inside or only outside the family home.

A parent involved in a custody dispute where the other parent smokes may wish to check ASH's web site for information on successfully raising the smoking issue.
http://ash.org/ AND http://ash.org/custody-and-smoking.html

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, SEE:

SEE: "A New Cigarette Hazard" Third-Hand Smoke"New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/health/research/03smoke.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=Winickoff&st=cse

"What is Third-Hand Smoke? Is It Hazardous?" Scientific American:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-third-hand-smoke

Babies May Absorb Tobacco Residue at Home, USA Today:
http://no-smoking.org/aug06/08-08-06-3.html

Children Exposed to Harmful Tobacco Residues in Their Homes, New York Times:
http://no-smoking.org/march04/03-09-04-2.html

Outdoor Smoking Affects Children Indoors, ABC Science:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/06/16/2276063.htm

How Free of Tobacco Smoke Are 'Smoke-free' Homes?,
Indoor Journal of Indoor Environment and Health:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119406962/abstract

PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Professor of Public Interest Law and Executive Director
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH),
America's First Antismoking Organization
2013 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 // (703) 527-8418
http://ash.org //