The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To monitor self-reported exposure to second hand smoke at home and in places other than the home in Canada.

Methods: The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) is an ongoing random digit dialing telephone survey of over 20,000 Canadians 15 years and older. Second-hand smoke is what smokers exhale and the smoke from a burning cigarette.

Results: In 2004, 17% percent of Canadian households reported at least one person who smoked inside the home everyday or almost everyday. Of those households without someone regularly smoking inside the home, 83% did not allow any smoking inside their home.

Twelve percent of Canadian children aged 0-11 years (456,879 children) were regularly exposed to second hand smoke in Canadian homes in 2004, a reduction from 26% (1.1 million children) in 1999.

For 2005, questions were added to CTUMS to assess respondent exposure to second-hand smoke in places other than their own home and included inside a car or vehicle, at an entrance to a building, at the workplace, or at a bus stop or shelter. Results from CTUMS 2005 wave 1 (February - June) examining exposure to second-hand smoke in places other than the respondents home will also be presented.