Tobacco Documents Online

Services of Mead Data Centhal, Inc. LEVEL 1 - 2'OF 4 STORIES Copyright (c) 19911 The Bureau of National Affairs,, Inc. Daily Labor Report PAGE 5 June 7, 1991 DLR' Mo. 110; PG. A- 6 LENGTH: 637 words SECTION: CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS SECTION. TITLE: SECOND-HAND SMOKE KILLS 53,000, MOSTLY FROM HEART DISEASE, STUDY SAYS. TEXT: Second-hand tobacco smoRe ki11s 53',000 non-smokers al year and is a leading contributor to indoor air pollution, according, to a draft report sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. The report also lists heart disease as the leading cause;of death from second-hand tobacco smoke, killing 37,000 nion-smokers each year, according to one of the report's authors, Stanton A. Glantz of the Umiversity of California at San Francisco. EPA has yet to accept or reject the conclusions, of the re~p~ort and has not released ilt to the public. EPA press officer Dave Ryan said that the agency has not officially accepted or, acted on the report's fi~ndings. However,, he downplayed its significance wtthin the cu~rrent debate ove,r second-hand, smoke. Both EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Adlnilnistration arereviewing current studies on indoor, ai r qualftyto se~ewhether worke~rsand thepuiblic need to be protected. OSHA has decided to issue a request for information that could result in reguilatory action on, ventilation standards and workplace smoking. "This Gsantz report is just one of a series of paipers," Ryan said. "'We do not consider this a maj,or EPA document. We consider that it contains, useful information that should be published, but we do not see it as representative of E'PA's views. "°He {Glantz} is: also including heart disease figures, whilch do not reflect EPA's opinioni," Ryan said. The report remains an interagency do~cument, and no scheduled date has been set for its release in dlrafit form, Ryan said. Higher Death Estimates The total death e5timates' cited by Glantz far exceed EPA figures contained in a draft risk assessment released by the agency in June 1990 titled'Haalth Eff~ectsof PassiveSmo~k~ing~: Asse~ssment of Lung; Cancer i~n Adults and Res;piratory, Disorders in Children. That assessment placed the number of lung cancer deaths attributable to second-handi smoke -- wfiat EPA terms envi,ronmentall tobacco smoke -- at 3,800 a, year. But that study d1d, not address the issue of heart disease. At the same time EPA released the d'raft risk assessment, the agency released a draft version of a guidebook:' Environmentai Tobacco Smoke: A Gui I de To LEX1S'NEaCIS'LEJfIS'111EX1S'

Siarvicea of' Mead Data CentW, Inc. PAGE 6 (c), BNA, Inc., Dai'ly Labor Report, June 7, 1991 Workplace Smoking Policies. Bofih of those studies will be released in their final form this fall, Ryan said. In a, May 31 interviewi with BNA, Glantz said the 53',000 figure is a combined deathi rate for all cancers -- including lung, brain, and cervical canctrs -- and heart disease. The report reviewedi previous stud'ies on second-hand smoke, includli'ng, about a dozen studies of heart disease death, rates, Glantz said!. The author compared dieat'~h~rate;s for non-smokers in two g,roups: Non-smokers married to smokers andl non-s~~mo~keirsmarried to non-smokers. Tihe cnnclusionsfound~~ an increased death rate among,non-smokers who lived with saookers, he said:. "What you see~is a 30 percent increased ri'sk," Glantz said. "If passive smoking had'no effect, the death rate would be the same" for both group.s. Nicotine constricts arteries, particularly in the heart, and'other elementss in~ s~econd-hand' smoke make the blood'. "stickier,"' which causes laardiening of the arteries, Glantz said. The link between second-hand smoke and heart disease is "actually a stronger one than the link between seicond-handlsmoke and lung cancer," he said. "With cancer you have a long latency period" of several years or decades before it strikes, a non-smoker e~~x~~po~sed lx~~po~sed lsedl to, second-hand smoke,ac!cordiingi to Glantz. The effects of'second-hand smoke on a non-smoker's heart are nearly i'mmedi!ate, he said., "You know the cancer develops, but nobody has been able, with~in, five minutes, to~ show, it i!sintimately linked i~n termso~f' changes in b~lood, chemistry," Glantz said. "'You can put someone on a treadlnill wit'hini minutes of being exposed (to second=hand smoke)and see the changes." dEuIs'n~ExIs"dExes'