April 21, 2000

Contact: Bonnie Widerburg, (971) 673-1282

RULE CHANGE PROTECTS CHILDREN FROM SECONDHAND SMOKE

New state rules bar smoking in registered child-care homes

( PORTLAND) Parents can now breathe easier knowing their children will not be exposed to secondhand smoke while at daycare. The Child Care Division of the Oregon Department of Employment has adopted new rules prohibiting smoking in registered family child-care homes. The new rules affect over 9,000 home-based providers.

"We applaud the Child Care Division for adopting what may be the toughest rules in the nation," said Warden Minor, president and CEO of the American Lung of Association of Oregon. "For years we have known that secondhand smoke causes childhood asthma and other respiratory problems."

"Many child care providers testified in support of this change when we had public hearings about the proposed rules," said Tom Olsen, Administrator of the State Employment Department's Child Care Division. "They, too, were concerned about the health of the children they serve." The new rules state "No person shall smoke or use smokeless tobacco in a family child care home during the hours the child care business is conducted. No person shall smoke or use smokeless tobacco in a motor vehicle while child care children are passengers." Prior to the new rules, smoking was not restricted around children in family child-care facilities. The changes took effect on April 1, 2000.

The Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Services also supported the new rules and provided testimony on which the Child Care Division based its new rule. "We are in full support of these new rules that protect children from secondhand smoke," said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, epidemiologist with the Health Services. "We know that smoke contains over 50 cancer-causing chemicals, causes over half of children’s breathing illnesses and has been linked to SIDS, ear infections and a host of other health problems. These rules are an important step forward for Oregon."