Evolution of scientific reports on secondhand smoke and smoke-free policies in the United States, 1970-2010

The dissemination of scientific evidence on the health risks that secondhand smoke poses to nonsmokers has been found to be an important factor contributing to adoption of smoking restrictions in workplaces and public places.

We reviewed the published literature to identify major U.S. reports on the health effects of secondhand smoke. We reviewed data from compilations of federal legislation, the CDC State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System, and the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation's U.S. Tobacco Control Laws Database to identify trends and milestones in federal, state, and local smoking restrictions.

Over the past 40 years, the evidence base on the health effects of secondhand smoke, as represented by the number and findings of major scientific reports on this topic, has grown substantially. The number and strength of local, state, and (to a lesser extent) federal restrictions on smoking in workplaces and public places, as well as the proportion of the U.S. population protected by these policies, has also grown dramatically.

The timing of these two trends reflects the way that scientific evidence has informed and helped drive the spread of smoke-free policies.