Does Smoking at Work Promote Smoking at Home?

If you are not allowed to smoke at work, you are more likely to abstain from smoking at home. This is according to a new study of adults in India, which found that a smoke-free corporate environment led to more smoke-free homes, compared to workplaces where smoking is permitted.

The data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey India, 2009/2010, showed that the wellbeing of 64% of adults benefited from not being allowed to smoke at work, as this meant that they did not then smoke at home. Of the adults who work where smoking is permitted, only 42% did not smoke at home. According to the survey, which was published in Tobacco Control, there are 110 million smokers in India.

The study was authored by researchers from Imperial College London and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), who said that the findings suggest that implementing smoke-free legislation in India could have had substantial wellness benefits for the population, especially for women and children. Dr John Tayu Lee, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the study said ‘This study suggests that, in India, there is good evidence that smoke-free laws in workplaces are associated with a reduction in second-hand smoke at home.’

Dr Christopher Millett, from the School of Public Health at Imperial, commented, ‘The results support the idea of ‘norm spreading’, whereby restrictions on smoking in public places make it seem less acceptable to expose others to second-hand smoke more generally, including at home. They highlight the importance of accelerating the implementation of smoke-free legislation more widely in India.’

In 2008, national legislation prohibiting smoking in public places and workplaces was introduced, but this is not a comprehensive law. Smoking in designated smoking areas in large restaurants and hotels is still permitted, and there is a variable level of law enforcement in place. If you are caught smoking illegally, you may only have to pay a modest fine of 200 rupees.

On a national level, 30% of adults reported being exposed to second-hand smoke at work, and over half of this number claim they are passive smoking at home. This study is important because although other research from the USA, Ireland and Scotland has found that implementation of comprehensive smoke-free laws has led to reduced second-hand smoke in homes, until now little has been known about whether these benefits exist in low- and middle-income countries.