Banning smoking in cars only way to protect kids

A new study has shown that kids who get into a car more than an hour after a parent has put out a cigarette still face a threat to their health.

Experts have warned parents that they are wrong to believe that opening car windows and stubbing out cigarettes before the children climb in will protect them.

The latest study revealed that the amount of time it takes for dangerous particles in cigarette smoke to fall back to safe levels is longer than expected.

And excessive exposure could put kids at risk of breathing problems and lung disorders later in life.

Tests show that in an average size car levels of potentially hazardous "particulate matter" remained high for more than an hour after a cigarette has been smoked.

The findings varied depending on the size of the car, whether windows were opened, the type of cigarettes smoked and whether or not the car was stationary.

"Don't kid yourself that because you cannot see the smoke, it is not there doing harm. Children are still inhaling particulate matter long after cigarettes have been put out," the Daily Express quoted Julie Barratt, from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health which carried out the study, as saying.