Secondhand smoke 'toxic'

2006-01-27 15:02

Sacramento - California became the first state to declare secondhand smoke a toxic air pollutant, putting tobacco fumes in the same category as diesel exhaust, arsenic and benzene because of its link to breast cancer.

The unanimous decision on Thursday by the state Air Resources Board relied on a September report that found a sharply increased risk of breast cancer in young women exposed to secondhand smoke.

It also links drifting smoke to premature births, asthma and heart disease, as well as other cancers and numerous health problems in children.

"If people are serious about breast cancer, they have to deal with secondhand smoke. That's what this is all about," said Dr Stanton Glantz, director of the Centre for Tobacco Control, Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.

"This is a seminal, international document," Glantz said. "It's impossible to underestimate what a big deal this is."

The report drew on more than 1 000 other studies of secondhand smoke and blamed the fumes for 4 000 deaths each year in California from lung cancer or heart disease alone.

'Based on sound research'

The most significant new finding cited by state officials is that young women exposed to secondhand smoke increase their risk of developing breast cancer between 68% and 120%.

That conclusion conflicts with a 2004 report by the US surgeon general. Sanford Barsky, a researcher writing on behalf of the RJ Reynolds tobacco company, told the board in previous testimony that the state report "either ignores mentioning or does not give the appropriate weight" to studies refuting a link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer.

California scientists say their research is more current than the surgeon general's report. The state report went through an exhaustive review that delayed its release for nearly a year but ensures it is based on sound research, said Dr John Froines, director of UCLA's Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health and head of the scientific review panel.

RJ Reynolds spokesperson David Howard said regardless of the dangers from passive smoke indoors, no research supports regulators' decision to declare it an air pollutant.

"No studies exist that show that exposure outdoors leads to any increased risk of tobacco-associated illness," he said.

The air board must next consider regulatory steps to reduce exposure to the smoke, a process that could take years.

On the net:

www.arb.ca.gov

- AP