Mount Sinai researchers have raised concerns about significant exposure to marijuana secondhand smoke in New York City apartments.
Data from a new study suggesting nearly one third of families smell marijuana smoke when their children are present raises concerns about the potential impact of legalized marijuana on vulnerable populations, particularly children, according to the researchers.
The researchers described their findings in a study published recently in Academic Pediatrics. The study looked at secondhand smoke and thirdhand smoke—the particles from secondhand smoke that settle on furniture, carpets, and clothing—in multi-unit households, typically apartment buildings.
The lead author of the study is Lodoe Sangmo, a fourth year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who will graduate in May with Distinction in Research. Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, the Debra and Leon Black Division Chief of General Pediatrics at Icahn Mount Sinai, is the senior author on the study and an international expert on secondhand and thirdhand smoke exposure—what researchers call “incursions.” Dr. Wilson led an investigation in 2018 that found high levels of marijuana metabolite tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid in the urine of young children whose parents also smoked tobacco. That study was published in Pediatrics.
Karen Wilson, MD, MPH
Researchers say the new study of families living in multi-unit housing in New York City builds on these earlier findings, suggesting that regulators take a close look at the impact on children when considering marijuana legalization.
“As we move towards the legalization of recreational marijuana in New York State, this study serves as a warning that our most vulnerable patient populations who live in multi-use housing will likely experience much higher levels of smoke incursions unless we are intentional about regulating exposure, particularly among children,” says Dr. Wilson, who is also Vice Chair for Clinical and Translational Research for the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at Icahn Mount Sinai. Dr. Wilson notes that while most states with legal marijuana use restrict its use in public indoor and outdoor spaces, they do not have any restrictions on combustible marijuana use in the presence of children.
For their study, the researchers surveyed parents at four pediatric practices in the Mount Sinai Health System, collecting a total of 382 surveys between September 2018 and December 2019.
Parents were asked, “Do you ever smell marijuana smoke in your room/apartment/ condominium coming from another apartment, when you are with your child?” and “Do you ever smell marijuana smoke in common areas such as the hallway or stairwell, when you are with your child?”
Almost one third (30.6 percent) of participants reported both secondhand and thirdhand smoke, while 47.9 percent had neither incursion, with the remaining 21 percent reporting one or the other incursion.
Participants who identified as non-Hispanic black or Hispanic were more likely to report smelling secondhand smoke than non-Hispanic white participants, a finding that is consistent with disparities in secondhand smoke exposure, caused in part by unequal access and enforcement of comprehensive smoke-free policies within multi-unit housing, according to the researchers.
“In light of these findings, we hope to see the expansion of current policies that solely restrict tobacco smoke to include restrictions on marijuana smoke in order to mitigate disparities and protect vulnerable populations exposed to dual smoke exposure,” says Dr. Wilson.
The study was funded by the Children’s Center Foundation Board of Directors of the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital at Icahn Mount Sinai.
According to Dr. Wilson, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium, while many states have moved ahead with legalization efforts, research on the effects of secondhand marijuana smoke is still in its infancy.
“We do know that prenatal exposure to marijuana smoke affects brain development and behavior but we don’t know about post-natal impacts, nor about the long-term health effects. We know much more about the detrimental effects of tobacco smoke on children’s health,” says Dr. Wilson. “Studies have linked even low levels of cotinine, a biological marker of secondhand tobacco smoke, with decreased scores on cognitive testing, and asthma. Theoretically, that could suggest that low levels of marijuana could potentially be damaging to the brains and lungs of children.”