Regulators in California -- which often leads the nation on health and environmental issues -- have officially named secondhand tobacco smoke as a toxic air contaminant, setting the stage for further restrictions on smoking in the state, Reuters reported Jan. 26.

"I think there is no question that this puts California way ahead," said John Froines, chairman of the Air Resources Board Scientific Review Panel. "To actually have the major air-pollution agency in the state of California to list ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) as a toxic air contaminant is going to have immense impact, we think, in terms of public education around other states. It will clearly lead to regulatory changes within the state."

The panel found that while just 16 percent of state residents smoked, 56 percent of adults and 64 percent of adolescents are exposed to secondhand smoke. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment said that up to 5,500 nonsmoking state residents die annually of heart disease caused by secondhand smoke, and up to 1,100 die from lung cancer caused by others' tobacco smoke.