Secondhand smoke exposure has been causally linked to lung cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and other serious illnesses in adult nonsmokers, infants, and children. In the United States, at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths each year are caused by cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure. According to the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report, The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General, exposure to secondhand smoke causes approximately 7,300 lung cancer deaths annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States. The report also estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.
In addition to cancer deaths, the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke causes approximately 34,000 heart disease deaths each year and increases the risk of stroke by 20 to 30 percent. Secondhand smoke exposure before and during pregnancy is causally linked to reduced fertility, pregnancy complications, and poor birth outcomes, including impaired lung development, low birth weight, and preterm delivery. Major settings of exposure include workplaces, public places, and homes. Workplaces and homes are especially significant sources of exposure because of the length of time people spend in these settings.
Funding Opportunities
| Title | Announcement # | Expiration Date | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time-Sensitive Opportunities for Health Research | PAR-22-233 (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | March 02, 2025 | Jill Reedy 240-276-6812 reedyj@mail.nih.gov |
| Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Public Policy Effects on Alcohol-, Cannabis-, Tobacco-, and Other Drug-Related Behaviors and Outcomes | NOT-AA-21-028 | September 08, 2024 | Carolyn Reyes-Guzman 240-276-7244 Carolyn.reyes-guzman@nih.gov |
| Risk and Protective Factors of Family Health and Family Level Interventions | PAR-21-358 (R01 – Clinical Trial Optional) | May 08, 2025 | Rebecca Ferrer 240-678-5075 rebecca.ferrer@nih.gov |
| Secondary Analysis and Integration of Existing Data to Elucidate Cancer Risk and Related Outcomes | PAR-23-254 (R01 – Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | September 08, 2026 | Melissa Rotunno 240-276-7245 rotunnom@mail.nih.gov |
| Secondary Analysis and Integration of Existing Data to Elucidate Cancer Risk and Related Outcomes | PAR-23-255 (R21– Clinical Trials Not Allowed) | September 08, 2026 | Melissa Rotunno 240-276-7245 rotunnom@mail.nih.gov |
NCI’s Smoke-free Meetings Policy
In July 2006, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced a new policy requiring that meetings and conferences organized or primarily sponsored by NCI be held in a state, county, city, or town that had adopted a comprehensive smokefree policy, unless specific circumstances justify an exception. The policy went into effect January 1, 2007.
National Cancer Institute’s Smoke-free Meetings Policy (PDF)
National Cancer Institute Smoke-free Meetings Policy FAQ (PDF)
Press Releases in English (PDF) and Spanish (PDF) from NCI’s announcement of the policy. Note: The links contained within these PDFs have been archived and are no longer active.
Tools
In 2018, NCI released the NCI Tobacco Policy Viewer, an interactive online resource for mapping, querying, and downloading historical smokefree policy data in the United States. The tool reveals variation across U.S. cities, counties, and states by the types of indoor areas that are smokefree, length of time since the smokefree policy went into effect, and percentage of people who are protected by the policy.
The Did You Know? Video Series was developed by NCI’s SEER Program to highlight key topics and trends in cancer statistics. Watch the Lung and Bronchus Cancer Statistics 
video to learn about types of lung cancer, risk factors for developing lung cancer, and statistics on lung cancer diagnoses and survival.
The Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) is an NCI-sponsored survey of tobacco use that has been administered as part of the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey approximately every three to four years since 1992-93. The 2014-2015 TUS-CPS highlights trends in smoking policies in both homes and workplaces, which are illustrated in Figure 7 and Table 5 of the 2014-2015 Highlights document.
The Cancer Trends Progress Report is updated annually and summarizes progress toward Healthy People targets set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services by using national trend data to illustrate where improvements have been made and where attention is demanded. The Secondhand Smoke Exposure page and the Smokefree Home Rules and Workplace Laws page track progress towards reducing secondhand smoke exposure and adopting smokefree rules and policies, respectively.
| Project Title | PI Name | Organization | Grant Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment of Biomarkers in Children to Help Parents Quit Tobacco | Jonathan Winickoff, M.D., M.P.H. | Massachusetts General Hospital | R01CA248742 |
| Establishing Smoke-Free Homes with Families Involved in Child Protective Services: an Effectiveness-Implementation Trial of an Integrated Program | Shannon Renee Self-Brown, Ph.D. | Georgia State University | R01CA248551 |
| A randomized controlled trial to support smoke-free policy compliance in public housing | Diana Hernandez, Ph.D. | Columbia University Health Sciences | 5R01CA240555-04 |
| A Community-Based Trial of a Voluntary Smoke-Free Home Intervention in Permanent Supportive Housing for Formerly Homeless Adults | Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS | University of California, San Francisco | 5R37CA248448-04 |
For information on all TCRB grants, please see the Active Funded Grants, Previously Funded Grants, and Current Funding Announcements webpages. You can also view additional information for Behavioral Research Program Funding Opportunities and grantee resources.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State and Local Comprehensive Smoke-Free Laws for Worksites, Restaurants, and Bars – United States, 2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;65(24):623-626.
Diver WR, Jacobs EJ, Gapstur SM. Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Childhood and Adulthood in Relation to Adult Mortality Among Never Smokers. Am J Prev Med. 2018;55(3):345-352. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2018.05.005.
Institute of Medicine Committee on Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Acute Coronary Events. Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2010. doi:10.17226/12649.
National Cancer Institute. A Socioecological Approach to Addressing Tobacco-Related Health Disparities. National Cancer Institute Tobacco Control Monograph 22. NIH Pub. No. 17-CA-8035A. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; 2017.
National Cancer Institute. Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 10. NIH Pub. No. 99-4645. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Cancer Institute; 1999.
National Research Council. Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposures and Assessing Health Effects . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 1986.
Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Adults: United States, 2015–2018. Brody DJ, Faust E, Tsai J. NCHS Data Brief 2021;396.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General; 2014.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2006.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Health Promotion and Education, Office on Smoking and Health; 1986.
U.S. National Cancer Institute and World Health Organization. The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control. National Cancer Institute Tobacco Control Monograph 21. NIH Publication No. 16-CA-8029A. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; and Geneva, CH: World Health Organization; 2016. (see Chapter 6)
Vijayaraghavan M, Benmarnhia T, Pierce JP, White MM, Kempster J, Shi Y, Trinidad DR, Messer K. Income disparities in smoking cessation and the diffusion of smoke-free homes among U.S. smokers: Results from two longitudinal surveys. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(7):e0201467. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0201467.
Walton K, Gentzke AS, Murphy-Hoefer R, Kenemer B, Neff LJ. Exposure to Secondhand Smoke in Homes and Vehicles Among US Youths, United States, 2011-2019. Preventing Chronic Disease 2020;17.
Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Marynak KL, Trivers KF, King BA. Exposure to Secondhand Smoke and Secondhand E-Cigarette Aerosol Among Middle and High School Students. Prev Chronic Dis. 2019;16:180531.
Shastri SS, Talluri R, Shete S. Disparities in Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2021;181(1): 134-137.
Farley SM, Jasek J, Debchoudhury I, Van Becka K, Talatia A, Perlman SF, et al. Housing type and secondhand tobacco smoke exposure among non-smoking New York City adults, 2004 and 2013–14. Preventive Medicine Reports. 2022; 27:101805.
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