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Objective
To investigate the impact of the implementation on 1st July 2007 of smokefree legislation in England on tobacco smoke exposure and cotinine levels in non-smoking adults.
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting
Private households in England.
Participants
Nationally-representative sample of 5330 (2585 male) self-reported non-smokers (never or ex-smokers) aged 16+ interviewed in the 2007 Health Survey for England; 3183 cotinine-validated non-smokers aged 16+ (1441 men) with a saliva sample.
Main Outcome Measures
Mean weekly duration of self-reported tobacco smoke exposure; geometric mean salivary cotinine. Cotinine is an excellent marker of exposure to tobacco. Low levels indicate exposure to other people’s smoke; 12 ng/ml is the best cut-off for personal tobacco use. Analyses adjusted for the complex (stratified, clustered) sampling design and weighted for non-response to interview and saliva sample, as appropriate.
Results
Most adult non-smokers reported no-one smoked in the home most days (93% before and 95% after 1st July 2007). Non-smokers’ mean self-reported exposure to tobacco smoke fell from 4.2 hrs (95% CI 3.6 to 4.9) before to 2.0 hrs (1.5 to 2.4) after 1st July in men and from 3.5 hrs (2.9 to 4.1) to 1.4 hrs (1.0 to 1.7) in women (both p<0.001). Exposure was inversely related to age-group but fell most in those with the highest exposure: from 5.9 hrs (4.9 to 6.9) to 2.8 hrs (2.3 to 3.3, p<0.001) aged 16–34 yrs; from 3.4 hrs (2.9 to 4.0) to 1.4 hrs (1.0 to 1.7, p<0.001) aged 35–64 yrs; and 2.1 hrs (1.5 to 2.7) to 0.9 hrs (0.4 to 1.4, p = 0.002) aged 65+. Similar falls occurred in all three NS-SEC groups: professional/managerial from 4.2 hrs (3.5 to 5.0) to 1.7 hrs (1.3 to 2.1); intermediate from 3.9 hrs (2.9 to 4.8) to 1.7 hrs (1.4 to 2.1); and routine/manual from 7.9 hrs (6.7 to 9.1) to 4.9 hrs (4.0 to 5.8) (all p<0.001). Overall, the proportion with undetectable salivary cotinine levels rose from 32% to 46% of cotinine-validated non-smokers. Geometric mean cotinine levels in cotinine-validated non-smoking adults fell from 0.20 ng/ml (95% CI 0.18 to 0.22) in the first half of 2007 to 0.14 ng/ml (0.13 to 0.15) after 1st July 2007 in men and from 0.19 ng/ml (0.17 to 0.21) to 0.12 ng/ml (0.11 to 0.13) respectively in women (both p<0.001). As with self-reported exposure, levels before July 2007 were highest in the youngest age-group, who experienced the largest falls: from 0.23 ng/ml to 0.15 ng/ml aged 16–34, p<0.001; 0.17 ng/ml to 0.11 ng/ml aged 35–64, p<0.001; and 0.17 ng/ml to 0.14 ng/ml aged 65+, p = 0.001. Similar, significant falls occurred in all three NS-SEC groups.
Conclusion
The legislation has been successful in its primary aim, to reduce the exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke pollution. It has decreased absolute inequalities.