--- title: CDC Says Secondhand Smoke Exposure Fell by Half Over Last Decade description: But 1 in 4 nonsmokers is still being exposed canonical: https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-03T23:15:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:07:38.286Z article:section: Health og:title: Secondhand Smoke Exposure Gets Cut in Half og:description: But 1 in 4 nonsmokers is still being exposed. og:url: https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabadc2297fce4376/69877d80f887dccec4e89ebe/secondhand-smoking-cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Secondhand Smoking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Secondhand Smoke Exposure Gets Cut in Half twitter:description: But 1 in 4 nonsmokers is still being exposed. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabadc2297fce4376/69877d80f887dccec4e89ebe/secondhand-smoking-cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Secondhand Smoke Exposure Gets Cut in Half ## Video: Up in Smoke: The Rise and Fall of Big Tobacco [Watch (HLS stream): Up in Smoke: The Rise and Fall of Big Tobacco](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WPuXPUG8.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2014-07-16. "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette" is just one of the phrases we don't hear anymore - here's a quick look at America's complicated relationship with the addictive habit._  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Feb 3, 2015 11:15 PM UTC  Stubbed out cigarette butt Stubbed out cigarette buttJohanna Parkin—Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Feb 3, 2015 11:15 PM UTC Secondhand smoke exposure in the U.S. fell by half between 1999 and 2012, according to a new study, but 1 in 4 nonsmokers, or 58 million Americans, is still being exposed. Secondhand smoking is more heavily affecting children, with 2 in 5 children exposed, including 7 in 10 black children, the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s monthly Vital Signs report](http://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/2015/dpk-vs-secondhand-smoke.html) said Tuesday. More than 1 in 3 nonsmokers living in rental housing are being exposed to secondhand smoke. While the CDC said in November that U.S. smoking rates are at a historic low — about 18% for 2013 — the agency also warned that any amount of secondhand smoke is unsafe. More than 400 infants and 41,000 adult nonsmokers are killed by secondhand smoking each year, according to [CDC data](http://time.com/3608018/u-s-smoking-rate-low/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/"},"headline":"Secondhand Smoke Exposure Gets Cut in Half","datePublished":"2015-02-03T23:15:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:07:38.286Z","description":"But 1 in 4 nonsmokers is still being exposed","url":"https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/","keywords":["Smoking"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabadc2297fce4376/69877d80f887dccec4e89ebe/secondhand-smoking-cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabadc2297fce4376/69877d80f887dccec4e89ebe/secondhand-smoking-cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Secondhand Smoking","caption":"Secondhand Smoking","creditText":"Johanna Parkin—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/smoking/","name":"Smoking"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/","name":"Secondhand Smoke Exposure Gets Cut in Half"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Up in Smoke: The Rise and Fall of Big Tobacco","description":"\"More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette\" is just one of the phrases we don't hear anymore - here's a quick look at America's complicated relationship with the addictive habit.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WPuXPUG8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-16T14:34:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WPuXPUG8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/","duration":"PT1M37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3694669/secondhand-smoke-cdc/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```