WATCH: Fresh warnings over the harm smoking in cars causes to children

Thursday 31 May 2018

Public Health has produced an animation to highlight the dangers of smoking in vehicles carrying children released today - World No Tobacco Day.

One of the focus areas of the Guernsey and Alderney Tobacco Control Strategy 2015-2020 is to protect children from second hand smoke.

SHS in cars carrying children animation from Bailiwick Express on Vimeo.

Guernsey’s 2016 Young People’s Survey found that between 2010 and 2016 there had been a reduction in the percentage of school children that were exposed to smoking in vehicles; 17% to 7% exposure for primary school children and 26% to 12% for secondary students. However, these percentages still present an "avoidable and unacceptable level of risk" said Bailiwick health officials. 

• Second hand smoke (SHS) is the smoke exhaled by a smoker and the smoke that comes from the end of a lit cigarette, roll up, cigar or pipe.
• SHS contains the same harmful chemicals that smokers inhale and makes children more likely to develop asthma, chest infections, meningitis, ear infections and coughs & colds.
• There is no safe level of exposure to SHS.
• When a child is exposed to SHS inside the confined space of a vehicle, the concentration of toxins that they breathe in is much higher.  It is estimated that the level of toxins in SHS inside a vehicle is 11 times higher than when smoking used to be allowed in pubs.

"Although there is a downward trend in the number of children who are being exposed to second hand smoke inside a vehicle, the exposure level is still high," Amy Taylor, Public Health Practitioner, said, adding, "I would urge any parents or carers not to smoke in their vehicle when children are present."

Guernsey’s stop smoking service, Quitline, is offering help to anyone wanting to give up smoking and among its services, it  provides NRT - Nicotine Replacement Therapy - for free.  

Quitline said smokers are four times more likely to succeed in a quit attempt if they seek the support of a stop smoking service.  

You can contact Quitline by telephone on 233170, by emailing quitline@gov.gg, or on Facebook at Guernsey Quitline.