New figures released by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) that show around 185,000 children between the ages of 11-15 in England are exposed to potentially toxic concentrations of second-hand smoke in their family car every day or most days.

That’s the equivalent of more than 6,100 classrooms full of children.

Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones, Director of Health and Wellbeing at City of York Council said:

“These new figures demonstrate that children being exposed to second-hand smoke when travelling in a car is still a big problem.

Children are more vulnerable to the dangers of second-hand smoke compared to adults due to their faster breathing, smaller lungs and less developed immune systems.

City of York Council is pleased the British Lung Foundation has released these figures to further raise awareness of the issue, especially as children don’t usually have a choice as to how they travel and therefore have little opportunity to avoid second-hand smoke.”