Relayed
by GLOBALink - The International Tobacco-Control Network
The Ottawa
Citizen/Edmonton Journal (page A7)
Thursday, June 20, 2002
After years
of controversy, a major scientific review by the World Health
Organization has concluded that second-hand smoke causes lung
cancer.
The findings
of a scientific working group of 29 experts were announced yesterday
by the international health agency.
The panel
said non-smokers are exposed to the same carcinogens as "active
smokers" and that "typical levels of passive exposure"
to second-hand smoke have been shown to cause the killer disease.
In fact, it concluded that non-smokers face a 20-per-cent higher
risk of contracting lung cancer if they are exposed to second-hand
smoke. That's still relatively low compared with the risk of
actually smoking, but nonetheless significant because billions
of people worldwide are exposed to second-hand fumes from an
estimated 1.2 billion smokers.
"We
hope it lays to rest any doubts," said Patricia Buffler,
a University of California professor of epidemiology who was
a member of the panel of experts, drawn from 12 countries, to
review the matter on behalf of the WHO.
Dr. Buffler
said that up until now, controversy has raged over the issue
because of a range of studies that were interpreted differently.
"There
was not a clear picture and not a clear statement."
The expert
panel reviewed nearly 40 studies on the issue and its conclusions
were unanimous.
The findings
lend credence to calls for more laws banning smoking in public
places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Dr. Buffler
said it's clear there's a need for such laws, noting that many
developed countries have laws protecting people from environmental
exposure risks that are "minuscule" compared to the
dangers of second-hand smoke.
"Much
more attention needs to be given to this."
The scientists
also reported that because of incomplete evidence, there is
still "uncertainty" that exposure to second-hand smoke
for children increases the risk of cancer in later life. Dr.
Buffler said that "logic" suggests that children --
with their more vulnerable lungs -- are at risk if they breathe
in second-hand smoke. But they may not get the disease until
they are in their 40s, meaning more longer-term studies are
required to confirm the suspicion.
Tobacco
firms have for years pointed to conflicting studies to note
that the jury is still out on whether second-hand smoke is dangerous.
But in Ottawa, health groups applauded the WHO report, saying
they hope it persuades governments to forge ahead with smoking
bans in public places.
Cynthia
Callard, of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said the tobacco
industry in recent years has fostered "misunderstandings"
about the health effects of second-hand smoke -- a tactic it
has traditionally used to combat findings that can hurt its
bottom line.
"It's
taken an enormous effort on the part of public health authorities
like the WHO to counter this deliberate misinformation. There's
no more doubt about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke
than there is about the harmful effects of primary smoking,"
Also yesterday,
the WHO panel added additional types of cancer to the long list
of cancers caused by smoking. Among the types added are cancers
of the stomach, liver, uterine cervix, kidney, and myeloid leukemia.
Those cancers had previously not been definitively linked with
smoking.
As well,
the panel reported that smoking causes "little or no risk"
of breast cancer, prostate cancer and endometrial cancer.
