In the United States (U.S.), secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure causes more than 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults annually. Adoption of smoke-free laws in public areas has increased, but private settings such as vehicles remain a source of SHS exposure. This study assessed change in voluntary smoke-free vehicle rules and SHS exposure in personal vehicles among U.S. adults between two periods, 2009-2010 and 2013-2014, using data from the National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS). NATS is a national landline and cellular telephone survey of non-institutionalized adults aged ≥18 years in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. We assessed percentage change in the prevalence of smoke-free vehicle rules among all adults and SHS exposure in vehicles among nonsmoking adults, overall, by sociodemographic factors (sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, annual household income, U.S. region), and by cigarette smoking status. During 2009-2010 to 2013-2014, the percentage of adults with a 100% smoke-free vehicle rule increased from 73.6% to 79.5% (% change = +8.0%; p < 0.05). Among nonsmokers, SHS exposure in vehicles in the previous 7 days decreased from 9.2% to 8.2% (% change = -10.9%; p < 0.05). Smoke-free rules in private settings such as vehicles, in coordination with comprehensive smoke-free policies in indoor public settings, can help reduce SHS exposure and promote smoke-free norms.
Keywords: policy; secondhand smoke exposure; tobacco products; vehicles.