article · Frontiers.
Secondhand smoke exposure is a severe global health hazard, yet enforcement gaps and low awareness limit the impact of tobacco control laws. An assessment was conducted among 399 non-smoking adults across two motor parks in Lagos State, Nigeria, to evaluate exposure rates, demographic links, legal knowledge, and health risk perceptions. The findings show that 54.6% of the participants were exposed to secondhand smoke, with higher exposure noted among middle-aged men, frequent park visitors, and people with lower educational attainment. While approximately 70% of respondents recognised the serious health risks associated with secondhand smoke, only 44.2% were aware of the National Tobacco Control Act. This gap indicates that high awareness of personal health risks does not guarantee familiarity with protective legislation or compliance with smoke-free rules in transport hubs.
Secondhand smoke causes over one million deaths worldwide each year, with no safe level of exposure. Demonstrating that public transit hubs harbour high exposure rates helps policymakers understand where smoke-free legislation fails in practice. Bridging the divide between health awareness and legal knowledge is vital to protecting commuters and transport workers from avoidable chronic illnesses.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway, as it focuses on an epidemiological and policy-awareness assessment.
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Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure remains a critical global health threat, causing an estimated 1.3 million deaths annually and classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Group 1 carcinogen with no safe level of exposure. In Nigeria, SHS contributes substantially to both communicable and non-communicable diseases despite the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) of 2015, which incorporates key provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC); however, enforcement gaps and limited public awareness continue to undermine its effectiveness. This study assessed the prevalence of SHS exposure and examined associations between socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of tobacco legislation, and perceived risks of SHS among 399 non-smoking adults recruited through systematic sampling in Ajah and Obalende motor parks in Eti-Osa LGA, Lagos State. Using a modified Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) questionnaire, data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 21, employing descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and multivariate logistic regression at a significance level of p ≤ 0.05. The prevalence of SHS exposure was 54.6%, notably higher among middle-aged men, individuals with lower educational attainment, and frequent users of motor parks. Although 69.8% of respondents demonstrated good perceived risk of SHS - reflecting awareness of its respiratory, cardiovascular, and carcinogenic harms - knowledge of the NTCA was poor (44.2%), indicating that understanding of health risks has not translated into awareness of legal protections or compliance with smoke-free regulations. These findings underscore the high burden of SHS exposure in outdoor transport settings, exceeding previously reported indoor rates, and highlight the urgent need for strengthened enforcement of smoke-free laws, improved public education on tobacco legislation, and targeted interventions within motor parks to reduce SHS exposure and protect public health.
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DOI: 10.11648/j.frontiers.20250504.15
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