Living in a Fog: Secondhand smoke may dull kids’ wits

Millions of U.S. children and adolescents could have deficits in reading and other skills caused by breathing secondhand smoke, researchers estimate. A new study links poor performance on several cognitive tests to tobacco-smoke exposure, even at low levels.

Past studies identified intellectual and behavioral problems in children of parents who smoked but didn’t determine the pervasiveness of exposure or the consequences of different degrees of exposure.