From a tender age I can recall pinning that bright red ribbon to my chest, my five-year-old ears yearning to catch every word of Officer Gill’s explanation of the dangers associated with smoking and tobacco use. I remember years of assemblies, programs, and demonstrations illustrating black gunk build-up and balloons never to be inflated again. These instances, along with countless words of warning from my mother, were quickly absorbed into my childhood mind leading me to conclude at a very young age: I would never smoke.

I was fortunate enough to be raised in a home where those around me also made the same decision that life was short enough already to have the urge to light up. With this cigarette-free environment, I believed I grew up far from the dangers and adverse health effects that result from cigarette smoke. Unfortunately, I could not have been more mistaken.

Recently, journalist Andrew M. Seaman highlighted a study conducted at University of California, San Francisco. A study that exposes an issue affecting the children in the Bay Area’s very own backyard: secondhand smoke. Using samples originally collected to determine lead levels in the blood of 496 children (ages one to four), researchers decided to use the remaining blood to test for cotinine- a chemical our bodies produce when exposed to nicotine. Over half (55%) of the samples tested had a detectable amount of cotinine found in the blood.
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Last week I traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the National Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals. It’s difficult to put into words how it felt to be surrounded by hundreds of other people (mothers, cancer survivors, nurses, steel workers) all fighting for healthier policies for our families. In the past, I’ve found myself feeling isolated from time to time, as a department of one, sitting in my cubicle in Oakland, CA, wondering if my efforts were making a dent in the broader goal to prevent exposures to toxic chemicals. As a working mom of two and a mother-to-be, I’ve found myself wondering, on those difficult days (we’ve all had them)  whether what I do, as just one mom,  makes any difference.
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