Proposed city ordinance would ban smoking 24 hours a day
Lynette Jewett, who runs Net’s Play-n-Learn, in Hollister does
all she can to keep her home clean for the preschool children she
works with every day as well as the foster children for whom she
cares. That includes keeping smokers out of the house.
”
I have, at least it seems, at least three kids a year on
inhalers,
”
she said.
”
If a parent is smoking outside and they come in and touch
something, they get the second- and third-hand smoke.
”
Jewett is a supporter of a city ordinance proposed by the San
Benito County Public Health Department that would ban smoking from
licensed home day cares in Hollister 24 hours a day.
Proposed city ordinance would ban smoking 24 hours a day
Lynette Jewett, who runs Net’s Play-n-Learn, in Hollister does all she can to keep her home clean for the preschool children she works with every day as well as the foster children for whom she cares. That includes keeping smokers out of the house.
“I have, at least it seems, at least three kids a year on inhalers,” she said. “If a parent is smoking outside and they come in and touch something, they get the second- and third-hand smoke.”
Jewett is a supporter of a city ordinance proposed by the San Benito County Public Health Department that would ban smoking from licensed home day cares in Hollister 24 hours a day.
“A few years ago, we didn’t know about second-hand and third-hand smoke,” Jewett said, noting that second-hand smoke has been shown to cause cancer. “They’ve seen how bad it is.”
Jewett already enforces a no-smoking policy in her home 24 hours a day, but she said the ordinance would help her when visitors or parents try to light up near the home.
“If there is an ordinance or a law, I have that to back me up, just like everything else we do to protect our children,” she said. “I can say, ‘This is an ordinance in Hollister and I follow it.'”
For now, she has a sign up that says her home is tobacco free.
The Hollister city council reviewed the ordinance at the Sept. 19 meeting, but asked for more information on how it would work and how it would be enforced.
Samela Perez, the public information officer for the San Benito County Public Health Department, said that the idea for the ordinance came from the San Benito County Tobacco Education Coalition, which suggested a voluntary ban on smoking in home day cares. For the last couple years, staff members have been meeting with the licensed day cares to find out what their smoking policies are and to see if they would be perceptive to an ordinance.
There are 107 licensed home cares in San Benito County, and 87 of them are within the city limits. Perez said that is the reason they chose to focus an ordinance in Hollister.
“All said they would use a voluntary (smoke-free policy,)” Perez said. “And they said they would go to field trips that are smoke free. Overwhelming they supported it.”
Allison Griffin, the mother of a 1-year-old, said that she didn’t ask about the smoking policy at her day care, but they did interview at the house. She said if it smelled like cigarette smoke, she would have sought out another day care.
“It would make me wonder how clean the facility is anyway,” she said. “I do feel it’s an important policy or ordinance. Any help for these kids to have a cleaner, safer environment is a good thing.”
Perez said the reason for the ordinance is to give the day care workers and homeowners leverage in reminding people not to smoke. Perez also noted that though second-hand smoke has been known to have negative side effects, researchers are now finding that what they refer to as third-hand smoke can also be dangerous to children or babies.
Third-hand smoke, according to a brochure from the Public Health department, refers to the toxins from cigarette smoke that stick to surfaces such as clothing, hair and furniture. Third-hand smoke can stay on unwashed surfaces up to months, and is especially harmful to babies who have small lungs and breathe rapidly, taking in more of the toxins. They also spend a lot of time on the floor or surfaces, where the toxins can stay.
“If you think about it, when you cuddle a baby, you hold them on your shoulders,” Perez said. “If you are smoking or had smoked, the baby is breathing in the smoke from your clothing. Their lungs are not fully developed.”
Perez said one of the goals of the ordinance is to change the behavior now and into the future so that it becomes a norm that smoking is not allowed in home day cares 24 hours a day. She likened it to the ban of smoking in restaurants and bars, which is now accepted throughout California.
“You always see people outdoors smoking, not in bars,” Perez said, noting that according to recent state statistics 11 percent of Californians smoke. “We are hoping this will become a part of our community and it will be the expectation of a day care and it will be the norm for new day cares coming in.”
Second-hand and third-hand smoke
Second-hand smoke has long been established to have an impact on the health of non smokers who are exposed to it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no amount of secondhand smoke is safe. It is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome, and children exposed to it are more likely to have lung problems, ear infections and severe asthma from being around the smoke.
Some of the cancer-causing chemicals in second-hand smoke include formaldehyde, benzene, polonium 210 and vinyl chloride. It also contains other poison gases and toxic metals.
More recently, public health officials have become concerned about what has been dubbed third-hand smoke. It is the residual nicotine and other chemicals left on a variety of indoor surfaces by tobacco smoke. This residue is thought to react with common indoor pollutants to create a toxic mix. This toxic mix of third-hand smoke contains cancer-causing substances, posing a potential health hazard to nonsmokers who are exposed to it, especially children, according to the Mayo Clinic. According the Mayo Clinic website, third-hand smoke is still being studied by researchers to find out the possible dangers.
