Sir, The Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland is concerned that advertisements such as that seen in The Irish Times (June 5th), may confuse the public about the risks of second hand tobacco smoke.
We are pleased to note that Phillip Morris has acknowledged the fact that cigarettes damage the health of smokers. However, we would like to set the record straight concerning passive smoking. Passive smoking has been conclusively shown to damage health.
Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals. Second hand tobacco smoke is a mixture of side stream smoke (smoke released directly into the air from the burning tip) and main stream smoke (smoke inhaled by the smoker). It is chemically similar to smoke inhaled by smokers.
In 1993 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed a comprehensive review of the evidence available on the respiratory health effects of passive smoking. They found that secondhand smoke is a real and preventable health risk. They estimated that second hand smoke is responsible for about 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year among nonsmokers in the US of these the estimate is 800 cancer deaths from exposure to second hand smoke at home and 2,200 from exposure in work or social situations. The report was endorsed by independent scientific experts, the department of health and human services, the National Cancer Institute, the Surgeon General and many major health organisations. The tobacco industry is raising numerous issues which may distract the public from the fact that passive smoking presents a serious and substantial threat to public health. The EPA report classified environmental tobacco as a Class A carcinogen, i.e., a cancer inducing substance.
Smoking is a recognised risk for hearth disease. Chronic chest infections and asthma are more common among the children of smokers Chronic middle ear disease (glue ear) is also more common in these children.
Passive smoking can harm unborn babies. Children born to mothers who smoke weigh on average 200 gm less than those born to non-smoking mothers. Miscarriages are more common amongst pregnant smokers.
Babies born to smoking mothers are more likely to die immediately after birth than those born to mothers who do not smoke. The frequency of cot deaths (sudden infant death syndrome) is higher in babies of mothers who smoke. In addition to these serious health effects people subjected to passive smoke often suffer from irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory tract infections. The general public are becoming increasingly concerned about the dangers and the unpleasantness of passive smoking. Strategies to reduce passive smoking are working and are achieving a reduction in the prevalence of active smoking. The tobacco industry is aware of this success. They have a vested interest in minimising the dangers of passive smoking to the non-smoker, just as for many years they denied that smoking itself was a risk factor for certain human disease.
It is important to keep the issues in perspective, all properly conducted research must be taken into account. Based on a balanced review of the evidence, there is sound justification for a campaign against passive smoking. People need to ask if they want themselves or their children to inhale other people's second hand tobacco smoke and suffer the health consequences. Yours, etc.. Dean of Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Dublin.