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Press Notice embargoed until 00.01 Thursday 14 January PASSIVE SMOKING OPENS AT THE SCIENCE MUSEUM . It is estimated that every year about 300 people in the UK die from lung cancer caused by passive smoking. Despite such apparently clear facts, passive smoking is still a controversial topic. Scientific evidence is used to support and deny allegations that passive smoking is harmful to humans. There is much debate about whether or not smokers should be forced to stop smoking in public places. This topical subject is tackled in Passlve Smoking, the latest in the Science Box series of contemporary science exhibitions that opens today, 14 January, at the Science Museum. The exhibition finds that, based on the research available, passive smoking is clearly a health risk but it also points out the difficulty of assessing scientific evidence and the problems of banning smoking in public places. Dr Brian Mawhinney, Minister for Health, who opened the exhibition, said today "Although the vast majority of tobacco related lung cancer deaths occur in smokers, there is now mounting evidence that around one person a day, who does not smoke, dies from the disease as a result of inhaling environmental tobacco smoke over many years." Visitors to the exhibition can test the effects of passive smoking, using a "Smokerlyzer". This is a device that measures the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) in people's breath. Exposure to tobacco smoke raises the amount of CO in the body for a short time. (The results of this test can be affected by exposure to traffic pollution). A life-size human jigsaw shows how passive smoking affects different parts of the body. Using computer interactives, visitors will be able to take part in an opinion poll on smoking and get further information from scientific papers. 1 /cont'd Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 200 Telephone 071 938 8000 Fax 071 938 8112

~. Tle N.nronal Museumi ~`o( Soe,xe & Il,ckrtitry A specially programmed totaliser will give a running display of the average . number of people who die from smoking related diseases during the course of the exhibition. Wednesday 10 March is National No Smoking day. To mark the occasion the Museum will hold a"table-top"science day where people can take part in experiments to show whether or not thay have been affected by cigarette smoke. Dragon's Breath, a dramatic performance for 7-11 year olds on the theme of smoking and passive smoking will be held. In addition, a special talk on passive smoking will be given by Dr Graham Cope of the Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham. The talk will be aimed primarily at adults and children over 13 years old. On 1 January 1993 the Science Museum introduced a no-smoking policy. . Passive Smoking is the fourth in the Science Box series of contemporary science exhibitions sponsored by Nuclear Electric plc. DNA fingerprinting, lasers and ozone have already been covered in the series. Forthcoming topics include the olympic gold medal-winning LotusSport bicycle and nanotechnology (technology on an atomic scale). Passive Smoking, 14 Jan 1992 - 14 Mar 1993, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD. Tel: 071 938 8000. -ends- Note to editors: The Bedfont Micro Smokerlyzer used in the exhibiton can show the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) from tobacco smoke in the body. CO remains in the body for 4-6 hours, so passive smoking can be measured in this period. In the lungs CO is absorbed by haemoglobin. This means that the haemoglobin can not pick up oxygen and carry it in the blood, and there is less oxygen available for use in the body. This is one of the reasons why heavy smokers develop circulatory problems. Press contact: Caroline Nolan Tel: 071 938 8181 / 8192 18188 2/cont'd

~.. u S The National Museum .. ~, of Suence & Industry Background information: ` Research into passive smoking began in the 1970s • 1987 London Underground banned smoking 1991 London Regional Transport banned smoking on buses 1992 Smoking banned on the Paris Metro . ` January 1993 the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the USA announced its belief that in the USA up to 3,000 lung cancer deaths every year are caused by passive smoking ` Breathing other people's cigarette smoke increases the risk of lung cancer by 10-30 °k ` Every year, about 300 people in the UK die from lung cancer caused by passive smoking ` Exposure to tobacco smoke can double the risk of bronchitis and pneumonia in children under one year old ` There is a direct link between passive smoking and "giue ear". Glue ear happens when the fluid formed in the ear cannot drain away. In some cases this may iead to partial or total deafness ` Taken across all studies combined, the increased risk of heart disese due to passive smoking is of the order of 25 per cent in both sexes ` Passive smoking has been shown to increase the risk of lung cancer in adults ` About a third of the cases of lung cancer in non-smokers who live with smokers, and a quarter of the cases of lung cancer in non-smokers in general, may be attributable to passive smoking • Over 4000 chemicals have been identified in tobacco smoke, many of which are classed as poisons ` Nicotine in the body is quickly broken down into cotinine. The level of cotinine in the body is a sensitive indicator of whether a person has been breathing other people's smoke ` Non-smokers who are married to smokers have three times as much cotinine in their blood as people who are not married to smokers ` On average, 300 people in the UK die each day from smoking related diseases 3/