Children are at risk for exposure to second hand tobacco smoke at airports that allow smoking in designated, enclosed smoking areas, says the Centers of Disease Control. Such enclosed areas, often separated from the main concourses/waiting areas by glass partitions, do not completely contain tobacco smoke.
There is no level of second hand smoke exposure that is risk-free; even brief exposures, especially for young children, can have immediate adverse effects on their cardiac and respiratory systems, says CDC. Therefore keep children as far away from designated smoking areas as possible.
While smoking is prohibited on all U.S. domestic and international commercial airline flights, no federal laws require airports to be smoke-free. Certain tobacco product manufacturers have promoted and paid for separately enclosed and ventilated smoking areas in airports and have opposed efforts to implement smoke-free policies. Most airports with designated smoking areas are exempted from state smoke-free laws or are located in states without comprehensive smoke-free laws. For example, although state laws in Colorado and Utah prohibit smoking in indoor areas of workplaces and public places, they specifically allow designated smoking areas at airports.
