The 1999 National Cancer Institute Monograph 10, based on the
1997 Cal-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) review of population-based
studies, confirmed that SHS is fatal and has numerous non-fatal
health effects. SHS chemicals include irritants and systemic toxicants,
mutagens, and carcinogens, and reproductive and developmental
toxicants. More than 50 compounds in tobacco smoke are known carcinogens.
SHS exposure causes lung and nasal sinus cancer, heart disease,
and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Serious impacts of SHS on children
include asthma induction and exacerbation, bronchitis and pneumonia,
middle ear infection, chronic respiratory symptoms, and low birth
weight. (National Cancer Institute, "Health effects of exposure
to environmental tobacco smoke: the report of the California Environmental
Protection Agency." Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph
10, 1999. Downloaded
on November 25, 2003; and, California Environmental Protection
Agency, "Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco
Smoke," 1997)
SHS is the third leading cause of preventable death in this
country, killing 53,000 nonsmokers in the U.S. each year. For
every eight smokers the tobacco industry kills, it takes one nonsmoker
with them. (Glantz, S.A. & Parmley, W., "Passive Smoking
and Heart Disease: Epidemiology, Physiology, and Biochemistry,"
Circulation, 1991; 83(1): 1-12; and, Taylor, A., Johnson, D. &
Kazemi, H., "Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Cardiovascular
Disease," Circulation, 1992; 86: 699-702)
The 1986 Report of the Surgeon General; the 1986 National Research
Council report, Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposures
and Assessing Health Effects; and the 1992 U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency report, Respiratory Health Effects of Passive
Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders, established that SHS
exposure causes lung cancer. (National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, "1986 Surgeon General Report:
The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking," 1986. Downloaded on November 25, 2003; and, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, "Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung
Cancer and Other Disorders," 1992. Downloaded on November 25, 2003)
The 2002 Environmental Health Information Service's 10th Report
on Carcinogens classifies SHS as a Group A (Human) Carcinogen
- a substance known to cause cancer in humans. There is no safe
level of exposure for Group A toxins. In addition, the 2002 World
Health Organization International Agency's (IARC) Monograph on
Tobacco Smoking, both Active and Passive concluded that nonsmokers
are exposed to the same carcinogens as active smokers. (Report
on Carcinogens, Tenth Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program,
December 2002. Downloaded on November 25, 2003; and, International Agency for
Research on Cancer Monograph's Program, "Monograph on Tobacco
Smoking, both Active and Passive," World Health Organization,
June 2002. Downloaded on November 25, 2003)
Even a half hour of secondhand smoke exposure causes heart
damage similar to that of habitual smokers. Nonsmokers' heart
arteries showed a reduced ability to dilate, diminishing the ability
of the heart to get life-giving blood. In addition, the same half
hour of secondhand smoke exposure activates blood platelets, which
can initiate the process of atherosclerosis (blockage of the heart's
arteries) that leads to heart attacks. These effects explain other
research showing that nonsmokers regularly exposed to SHS suffer
death or morbidity rates 30% higher than those of unexposed nonsmokers.
(Otsuka, R., et al. "Acute Effects of Passive Smoking on
the Coronary Circulation in Healthy Young Adults," Journal
of the American Medical Association, 286: 436-441, 2001; and,
Burghuber, O., et al. "Platelet sensitivity to prostacyclin
in smokers and non-smokers," Chest, 90: 34-38, 1986. Downloaded on November 25, 2003)
Restaurant workers are exposed to levels of secondhand smoke
that are approximately 1.6 to 2.0 times higher than those to which
office workers are exposed on the job. Workers in the "5
B's"(bars, bowling alleys, billiard halls, betting establishments,
and bingo parlors) have SHS exposure levels that are 2.4 to 18.5
times higher than those in offices, and 1.5 to 11.7 times higher
than in restaurants - a risk level 47 times higher than the federal
government's defined level for a carcinogen. (Siegel, M. "Involuntary
Smoking in Restaurant Workplace: A Review of Employee Exposure
and Health Effects." Journal of the American Medical Association,
270:490-493, 1993. Downloaded on November 25, 2003; and, Siegel, M. " Exposure
to secondhand smoke and excess lung cancer mortality risk among
workers in the '5 B's': bars, bowling alleys, billiard halls,
betting establishments, and bingo parlours." Tobacco Control,
12:333-338, 2003. Available at: Downloaded on November 25, 2003)
In 1991, data showed that nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population
had measurable levels of serum cotinine (metabolized nicotine)
in their blood. In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals found
more than a 75 percent decrease in median cotinine levels for
nonsmokers in the U.S. since 1991- an indication that smoke-free
environments significantly reduce exposure to SHS. (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention; Department of Health and Human
Services, "Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental
Chemicals," National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH
Pub. No. 02-0716) January 2003; and, Centers for Disease Control;
Department of Health and Human Services, "Facts about Secondhand
Smoke," Updated: September 2003)
Tobacco Industry Attacks On The Science Of
Secondhand Smoke
In 1981, the Tobacco Institute spent more than $100 million
in "smoking-health research" campaigns to increase tobacco
industry credibility and restore a reasonable doubt that SHS exposure
is harmful. (Kornegay, H., "New Directions Implementation,"
Tobacco Institute, Bates No. CORTI003963-3970: 1981)
In 1987, Philip Morris admitted, "We will never find an
unbiased scientist who concludes that ETS [environmental tobacco
smoke] exposure has been proven safe for non-smokers."("The
ETS Issue: Science and Politics," Philip Morris, Bates No.
2023551401-1404: 1987)
A Philip Morris memo, written four days after the EPA announced
the release of the final version of its 1992 landmark report finding
that SHS is a carcinogen, outlined the tobacco industry's planned
response: "Our overriding objective is to discredit the EPA
report…" Tobacco manufacturers filed suit against the
EPA in 1993. ("NCI Supports EPA's Conclusions that Secondhand
Smoke is Dangerous," News Release, National Cancer Institute,
May 4, 1993; "The Czarina's Edict," Memorandum from
Ellen Merlo, January 11, 1993, Bates No. 2023920140)
Other internal documents made public as a result of a lawsuit
against the tobacco industry show how researchers were used to
undermine the EPA report. The Tobacco Institute and two law firms
managed a project, which paid 13 scientists more than $156,000
to write letters to influential publications criticizing the report.
Lawyers edited, and in some instances wrote, the scientists' letters.
(Hanners, D. "Scientists Were Paid to Write Letters: Tobacco
Industry Sought to Discredit EPA Report," Pioneer Planet,
August 4, 1998)
In March 1998, British American Tobacco Company attempted to
discredit a World Health Organization study on the effects of
SHS in seven European countries, claiming that the agency suppressed
the study because of negative findings. In reality, the paper
summarizing the study was undergoing scientific peer review prior
to publication, and its findings-consistent with other major scientific
reviews-showed a statistically significant increased risk of lung
cancer among nonsmoking spouses of smokers. ("Passive Smoking
Does Cause Lung Cancer, Do Not Let Them Fool You," Press
Release, World Health Organization, March 9, 1998)
In July 1998, in a lawsuit filed by a number of tobacco manufacturers
against the EPA, U.S. District Judge William Osteen-a former tobacco
industry lobbyist-ruled parts of the EPA report invalid. The EPA
filed an appeal in September 1998 and stood by its conclusions
on the health effects of SHS, which have been validated by a number
of more recent and more comprehensive studies. In December 2002,
a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw
out the lawsuit against the EPA. The judges ruled that tobacco
companies cannot sue the EPA over its secondhand smoke report,
because the report was not a final agency action and hence not
subject to court review. (Schlesinger, J.M., "Secondhand-Smoke
Study Ruled Invalid: Federal Judge Says EPA Overstated Cancer
Link; Agency Likely to Appeal," Wall Street Journal, July
20, 1998; "Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking,"
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation,
last modified on June 6, 2000; and, [n.a.], "Suit on Secondhand
Smoke Dismissed," Washington Post: A16, December 12, 2002)
After decades of attacking credible science proving SHS's adverse
health effects, Philip Morris's website now states, "Public
health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes
causes disease, including lung cancer and heart disease, in non-smoking
adults…. [Philip Morris] also believe that the conclusions
of public health officials concerning environmental tobacco smoke
are sufficient to warrant measurers that regulate smoking in public
places." (Philip Morris, "Health Issues: Secondhand
Smoke," Downloaded: January 9, 2004)
First Published: March 2004
Updated: February 2007
