A study highlights the number of passive smokers and exposure to smoke on outdoor terraces in Spain
A study carried out by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) has estimated the proportion of passive smokers in Spain in 2024. The study allows for a comparison of trends with three previous editions and, for the first time, includes information on non-smokers’ exposure to smoke on outdoor terraces, as well as to e-cigarette products. The results indicate that exposure has stopped falling and appear to show, for the first time in the data series, an upward trend in the number of passive smokers. Bar terraces are identified as the main location of exposure. The study is published in the journal Tobacco Control, part of the BMJ group.
Josep M Suelves - Tobacco Control SEPAR EN
Josep Maria Suelves
Researcher at the Behavioural Design Lab at the UOC eHealth Centre, member of the board of directors of the Public Health Society of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and vice-chairman of the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking
The article, which has just been published in Tobacco Control, presents the results of a series of four surveys carried out between 2005 and 2024 to assess exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in different settings, based on information reported by the respondents. Although these surveys were conducted on smaller samples than those used in other studies, such as the European Health Survey in Spain, the results obtained demonstrate once again the positive impact of the tobacco legislation passed in Spain in 2005 and 2010, which completely banned smoking in most enclosed public spaces and whose impact extended to unregulated settings such as the home, thereby helping to reduce the harmful effects of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
The researchers particularly emphasise the fact that the study shows a slight increase in the proportion of people who reported being exposed to second-hand smoke in different settings in 2024 compared with 2011. This apparent rise in exposure could be due to methodological limitations or simply chance, as it does not reach the level of statistical significance. Furthermore, various health surveys carried out in our country show a sustained trend towards a reduction in exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. There is also ample evidence that the significant positive effects on public health brought about by tobacco regulations in the first decade of this century in Spain need to be sustained through the introduction of new regulations, which will help to increase the price of tobacco and nicotine products, enable plain packaging to be finally introduced in our country, expand smoke-free and nicotine-aerosol-free areas, and improve the regulation of the new products that multinational tobacco companies have been promoting, particularly amongst young people and adolescents.
Josep M Borrás - Tobacco Control SEPAR EN
Josep M. Borràs
Scientific coordinator of the National Health System Cancer Strategy, director of the Catalan Oncology Plan and Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Barcelona
This is a very interesting article which demonstrates the effectiveness of legislation introduced in our country in the first decade of the 21st century in reducing exposure to tobacco smoke. However, it also shows, using data from population-based health surveys, that sustained efforts are needed to maintain the progress made in reducing exposure to second-hand smoke at the levels achieved. The challenge is to continue making progress in controlling exposure and not to lose the ground we have gained.
Carlos A. Jiménez Ruiz et al.
- Research article
- Peer reviewed
