Utahns continue to lose interest in smoking tobacco, according to a study released Wednesday by the state Department of Health.

At 9.5 percent, Utah's age-adjusted adult smoking prevalence is at its lowest level since the state started to track smoking in 1989. More than 170,000 Utah adults continue to smoke and need help with quitting.

Nearly 7.5 percent of Utah's high school students, grades 9-12, smoke. However, they are three times less likely to smoke than high school students nationwide. The smoking rate is 68 percent lower than the national rate of 23 percent, continuing a dramatic decline since 1999 — an overall decrease of 38 percent in eight years.

A key factor in the continuing decline is the significant gain in number and size of smoke-free environments during the past year, according to the 2007 Utah Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Annual Report. Along with 33 apartment/condominium developments and 20 businesses, 21 parks and outdoor sports venues became smoke-free the past year.

Limiting nonsmoking Utahns' exposure to second-hand smoke was a key goal of prevention efforts this past fiscal year, program manager Heather Borski said Wednesday. "We're encouraged, and Utah is healthier, because so many groups have new policies to restrict residents' exposure, as well as teach Utahns about the toxic nature of secondhand smoke."

Studies have shown that 4,000 chemical compounds are created when a cigarette is burned, and 40 of those compounds are known carcinogens.

Benefits from quitting are almost immediate, program marketing coordinator Lena Dibble said. Within 10 to 15 years, smokers often have as few risks to their health as lifetime nonsmokers, she said.

"Despite great progress, much remains to be done," said Dr. David N. Sundwall, the health department's executive director. "Nearly 190,000 youth and adult Utahns continue to smoke cigarettes, and 24,000 children are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes."

Annually, more than 1,100 Utah adults die as a result of their own smoking, and an estimated 140 to 250 adults, children, and babies die due to secondhand smoke exposure, Sundwall said. The Utah economy loses $530 million each year to smoking-attributable medical and productivity costs.

"As long as tobacco continues to cause preventable disease and death among Utahns and to cost our health-care systems millions of dollars, we must maintain our commitment to preventing children from starting to use tobacco and helping smokers quit."

Utah receives between $30 million and $35 million annually from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that requires large tobacco companies to compensate most states for health problems resulting from smoking. About $4 million of that goes to the state health department for the prevention and control programs in the report. The department receives an additional $3 million from cigarette taxes, as well as about $2 million in matching federal funds.

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com