Two U. S. researchers have said that non-smokers who live in U. S. public housing are exposed to toxins from tobacco smoke and smoking should be banned in such housing.

More than 7 million people live in public housing, with four in 10 units occupied by families with children, said Lead author Dr. Jonathan Winickoff of MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Michelle Mello of the Harvard School of Public Health.

It has been reported that the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a memorandum last year that encouraged local public housing authorities to implement no-smoking policies in some or all of their housing units but only about 4 percent have banned smoking in the units they manage.

Winickoff's and Mello's article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, details how smoking in a single unit within a multi-unit building puts other residents of the building at risk. The article gives specific guidance on policy options for public housing authorities and HUD and clarifies that there are no legal barriers to banning smoking in public housing.

Winickoff says in a statement, "Research shows that those living in multiple-unit housing are being exposed to toxins from tobacco smoke. Even if you are not a smoker and don't smoke inside of your own apartment, if you have a neighbor who is smoking inside of his, the entire building is contaminated." (With inputs from Agencies)