On This Week's Show: Saturday, February 19

Children in Multi-Unit Housing at Greater Risk of Tobacco Smoke Exposure

Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director for the Public Health Advocacy Institute, will discuss how children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke are at greater risk for a variety of illnesses, even at very low levels of exposure. A new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Julius B. Richmond Center, the University of Rochester Medical Center, and MassGeneral Hospital for Children is the first to show significant evidence of increased tobacco smoke exposure in the blood of children who live in multi-unit housing, even if no one smokes in their unit. Key findings include:

• Children living in multi-unit homes had a 45 percent increase in cotinine levels compared with children who live in detached homes.
• From the lowest detectable to the highest levels of cotinine tested, a greater proportion of children in multi-unit housing were found positive for smoke exposure than children in other housing types. This increase could be caused by smoke seeping through walls or shared ventilation systems.
• Smoking bans in multi-unit housing may reduce children’s exposure to tobacco smoke.

Fracking + GASLAND the movie

Josh Fox, the documentary director, joins us to discuss what is fracking and how is it a threat to drinking water? This remarkable film is about the largest domestic natural gas-drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown.