Philip Morris
Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Coronary Heart Disease
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), smokrngRV/ared Dls. J 993 ~ afl); 27-?6
ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE AND
CORONARY HEART DISEASE
A.K. Arr»itage
Consultant Pharmacologist and'Toxicologisz Knaresboroug>7, UK
Abstract
The possitiilitythat exposure taenMronmental tobacra smoke (ETS) may increase the risk
of non-smokers devei'oping coronary heart disease (CHD) is a matter of debate. The
results of published epidemiology studies harre been considerrd according to the
dassicai criteria for jixigment of causality. Tweiv* epiderrnobgicai studies have been
published onithe alleged relation.ship between exposzre to ETS and ttv risk of CHD ih6
non-smokers. The relative risks generaiyfall between 1 and'2, which represent3 a 'weak
assrxiation'. Although the reported association shows some signs of oons isten cy; it is not
strong, nor it is specific. The ladc of consistency between dosimetry and epiderniology
casts doubt on the biobgical ptausibiiity;'further daims of a dosdresporrse reiatiorship,
which are based entire#y on reported cigarette usage, are not wholy convincing. On
current euidence a causal re{ationship betweesti exposure to ETS and the developrnent
of CHD has not been proved.
Key vNords: Environmental toDacco smoke (ETS), coronary heart disease (CHD),
assocfation and'causality, dcsii'netty, pubication bias, biol'ogicai plaus+bi(ity
Introduction.
The debate regard'ing the association
between smoking and cardiovascular dis-
eases, especially coronary heart disease
(CHD) has, during, recent years, led to
consideration of the possibiiitythat exposure
of non-smokers to environmental tobacco
smoke (ETS) might increase the risk of such
disease. The uncertainty aboutthe existence
of such an association is evident from the
pronouncements of groups of scientists who
carefully and aitically reviewed the relevant
data available at the time of their review.
1986: US Surgeon General (1J - "Further
studies on the relationship between
involuntary smoking and cardiovascular
disease are needed in order to determine
whether involuntary smoking increases the
nsk of cardiovascular disease". This viewwas
based on four studies which had' been
published at that time.
1986: National Research Council [2 J-"1Nith
respect to chronic cardiovascular morbidity
andmortality; although biologicaliyplausible,
there is no evidence of.statisticaliy significant
effects due to ETS exposure, apart from the
study of Hirayama in Japan" (four studies
considered, three of which were also
considered by the US Surgeon General).
1990: Environmental Tobacco Smoke -
Proceedings of the Intemational Sympcuiurn
atMcGill Univefsiry,Montrea]{3)-Dr Wexier
and discussants unanimously concluded that
the data from seven studies would not pro-
vide any basis for altering the Surgeon,Gen-
erai's and the National Research Council~s
conclusions concerning ETS and cardio-
vascular disease.
Address correspondence to Dr,a.K. Arrr,itage. Sytamore Lod9e. Abbey Road, KnaresCorough, Norrh
Yorkshire
HGS 8xY, uK. (Accepre0 for publicapon 30.7.92.)
27

1990: UnT*+ ksbetween passive smoking and'
dsease, a best-evidence synthesis [4) - This
report of an 11-mernber working group on
passive smoking stated in 1990 that "after
an initial review of'! the literature, we deter-
mined that insuff icientstudies of high o,uality
had'been done in the area of cardiovascular
disease to warrant comment in our review at
the present tlme".
Most of the studies upon which these
opinions were based were not designed'
specifically to investigate the effects of ETS
exposure on CHD. According to Weetman &
Munby (5) they were later adapted to this
purpose after the initial claims that ETS
affected liealth adversely had appeared in,
1981-1982. Thus, neither of the two~large
prospective studies [6,7], was conducted~
according to accepte6 principles, i.e.
systematic coliection ofi. risk factor data at
intervals and corrnpletefoliow-up of all deaths.
With the exception of the recent study of
Oobson and associates [8), it is notable that
all the other published~ studies involved'only
very, small numbers of', deaths [9].
Epidemiology data and the question
of causality
Twelve epidemiolbgy studies have now been
published ([I6-8,10-20] - see Table 1), on
which to base a judgement but, few details
were provided for two of the case-control
studies and the studies of Martin er ai: [11 ]
Palmer er al: [13] and But3er [19] have only
been published as abstracts; full papers are
still awaited. Some of the data in the Table
are based on figures quoted by Lee [21 ] and
Glantz & Parmley [221. In attempting to
interpret the results of these studies it is
appropriate to recalltheelernents of evidence
laid down by the United States Surgeon
General (23) and the late Sir Austin Bradford
Hill (!24) that need to be considered before a
reasonable inference of causation forstudies
that purport to show association can be
made. Hill's elements were as follows:
- aniassociation should be strong
- it should be consistent across a variety
of subjects and' circumstances
- it should be specific
- exposure must precede the observed
outcome
- there should be a dose-response
relationship,
- the association should be biologically
plausible
= evidence from all Vvan't scientific
disciplines should be coherent
- experimental evidence should be sought
whenever possible
- anaiogy to similar cause and effect
relationships should be considered.
Hill's criteria did not actually include -
"'sourcesof bias mustbe ezcluded"-though
it is implicit in the condition - "an association
should be strong". Sources of bias and
confounders, which feature so prominentiy
in all papers concerned with the association
of ETS and the d'evelbprnent of disease are,
therefore, logically considered understrength,
of association.
The United States Surgeon General [23]
wisely commented in 1964'that "Statistical
methods cannot establish, proof of a causal
relationship in an association, The causal
significance of an association is a matter of
judgementwhich goes beyond anystatement
of statistical probability". It is regrettable,
however, that three decades on judgements
tend'to get doud'ed to fit in withibeliefs. Each
of Hill's elements will be considered in turn,
Strength of association,
The possibility of an association between
CHD and alleged exposure to ETS has arisen
from observational studies (prospective and
retrospective) of groups considered to, be
either exposed or not exposed to ETS. Risk of'
death from CHD in the exposed group relative
to the unexposed group is calcuiated' by
application of appropriate statistical
techniques.
There are considerable difficulties in
conductingland interpreting epidemiology
studies when the 'increased risk' is srnalll
Indeed, it has been, stated (25-28] that
epidemiology cannot usually reliably predict
relative risks of less than two.
28

Tabte 1. Epirbemiotogical studies of erwironmentat totweco smok.e (ETS) and coronary heart disease
(CHD).
CHD deaths or caaes
Relative
95% oonf.
Reference Location Sex Unexposed Exposed risk Grnits Factors adjusted for
Came control stud}es:
teeetaL/101
UK
M
26
15
1.34
0.64-2.80
None
F 22 55 .97 0.56-1.69
Martinetal (111 US F 23' 2.6 1.2-5.7 Not known
He(121 China ' F 9 25 1.5 Unknown Age,, race, residence, oecrrpatoon,
almer et a! .(13(
SA
F
'
.2
nknown hypcrtension, family history of
hypertension or CHII, alcohol,
exercise, hypercholesterolaemia
Not known
Dobson et a1. (8) Australia M 161 22 0.97 0.50-1.86 Age and history of myocardial
F 117 43 2.46 1.47-4.t3 infarction .
I'yospective sturk---
' Hole et aL (151
UK
M+
30
54
2.01
1.21-3.35
Age, sex, class, blood pressure,
Svendsen et al. 1161
US F
M
8
5
2.23
0.72-6.92 cholesterol, body mass
Age, blood pressure, cholesterol,
"' Hclsing et a!. (61
US
M
248
122
1.31
1.05-1.64 weight, education, drinks
Ac3e, marital status, schooling,
F 437 551 1.19 1.04-1 _36 housing
llirayarna (71 Japan F 118 376 1.15 0.94-1.42 Age
Gailand ef a!. (171 US F 2 17 2.7 0.90-13.6 Age
Humble ef al. (18( US F 76' 5
9
1. O.g9-2.57 Age, cholesterol,
fiullcr (19(
US
F
64' _
_
1.4
0.50-3.80 blood pressure,
body mass
Age
I lole et at is an update of Gilfis et al. (141 but is not a separate study
' I khirm data extracted from lalcr paper by Sandler et al. 1201
'= total number of cases
TsazTsCzoz

The 12 studies provided' 15 different
estimates of relative risk for either men or
women; and 95% confidence intervals are
available for all but tvvo of these. Table 1
shows that 13 out of' 15 Indicate a relative
risk of > 1 but' eight of these have a lower
confid'ence limit of <1, indicative of a
non-significant effect. Although the studies
suggest an association; because most of the
claimed relative risks lie between one and'
two, Hill's criterion of strength isnot satisfied.
The studies by Butler (19J, Dobson etal. [8)
and Svendsen et aL [16) give some d'at;a on
ETS exposure at home, work, leisure and
travel situations. None of these supplementary
results was statistically significant.
Meta,analysis
Recently the results of all studies have been
combined using the technique of ineta-
analiysrs (29;22). Wells (29); using~ studies
available in 1987, computed a pooled
relative risk of 1.3 (95% confidence interval,
1.1~-1.6) for rTmen and 1.2 (95% confidence
interval, 1.1-1.4) for women. Glanu &
Parmley [22]'reported a relative risk of 1,3
(95% confidence interval, 1.2-1.4) for men
and women combined'.
Meta-analysis is a mathematicaltechnique
primarily developed for handling data from
multi-centre randomised clinical trial+s where
thesame protocolforthe selectionof patiepts,
the selection of control subjects, dosing and
observation is followed ih each of the
collaborating centres. Whether such
techniques are scientifically appropriate for
epidemiologlcall studies conducted in
different countries by investigators using,
widely different methods and' criteria is
doubtfwl'(30r-34j.
Meta-analysis does not increase the
strength of the association, although, by
reason of narrowing the 95% confidence
intervals it may, produce a mathematically,
though notnecessarilybiologically, significant
relative risk. The Glantz and Parmiey paper
(22J has recently aroused criticism and
debate (,35-3'8) on a number of iss.jes
including the mathematicall model used by
Weils [29).
Misclassification bias
According to Lee (39,40j most, if not all, of,
the apparently higher risk of lung cancer
among non-smoking women married to
smokers compared to non-smokingwomen
married torion-smokers can be explained by
a bias introduced when, smoking (or ex-
smoking) women, claimi untruthfully to be
non-smokers. Such rnisclassification leads
not only to imprecision but to bias, because
smokers tend to marry, smokers and "
non-smokers tend to marry non-smokers
more than would be expected by chance.
Misclassification bias of this kind affects not
only the interpretation of data relevant to
lung cancer risk from ETS but also to some
extent that relevant to CHD risk [21). The
matter of smoking~ habit concordance has
been fully discussed by Lee ('211.
Publication bias
Lee [21 ] has shown that there is a tendency
for the studies with small numbers of deaths
or cases to have the largest reiative risk
estimates. For example, Table 1' shows that
the highest relative risk reported, i.e. 2.7 by
Garland et al. (17) was based on only 1.9
deaths, whereas one of the lowest relative
risks (1.19)reported by Hel;;ing (6) was based
on, 1,358 deaths in the largest of' the 12
studies. Lee (211 suggests that this is a
manifestation of publication, bias. He also
points outthat the American Cancer Society
has relevant data on many thousands of
deaths from heart disease among women,
who have never smoked, but has not, so far
reported results which, according to Lee,
suggests that no relattonship with ETS was
found. The possibility of publication bias
has been strengthened by the paper of
Easterbrook et al. [411] which states, "we
have confirmed the presence ofia systematic
selection bias in the publication process
according to study results. Studies with a
statistically significant result for the main
outcome of interest were more likely to be
submitted for publication and more likely to
be published than studies with null results,
after adjustment for confounding factors".
Thus, conclusions of ineta~analyses based
only on published work may produce a
misleading high estimate of relative risk.
30

other potential confounders
Neither of the two large studies 16,7) recorded
detaiis of major nsk factors for CHD such as
blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels,
obesity, etc, an omission criticised bya number
of reviewers [3, 5,21). inthe studies by Helsingl
Sandler, [i6,20) andby Hole (15) the index of
ETS exposure was based on living with a
smoker, but no adjustrnent was made forthe
number of people in the household. Since
household size may correlate with various
facets of disease, adjustment, should'have
been made for it in the analysis. Dobson etaG
[SJ collected data on smoking behaviour for
cases and controls by different methods and
showed that, for the controls, smoking
frequency varied according to the location of
data coliectiom This provides a further
important example of potential bias.
Consistency of associaticn
Stati'stically, assuming no systematic bias, it
would appear unlikely that 13 out of 15
estimates of relative risk> 1 could have ansen
by chance. Although, some element of
consistency amongst the published studies is
indicated the possibility of publication bias
may have accentuated the consistency of the
associatiom
Specificity of association
There are two distinct aspects of specificity-
one relating to the exposure and one to the
disease. CHD is a common cause of death in
non-smokers, which is hardiysurprisingwhen
almost 300 so-called risk factors have been
described [42)'and the literature on such risk
factors "seems to expand at almost
exponential rates" [43). For this reason, the
cause of CHD Is frequently stated to be
multifactorial in origin, It has been said that
"the phrase is a synonym for'unknown' and
thus a euphemism for ignorance" [44]. CHD
is of course not the only disease to be linked'
with ETS.. There is, therefore, an absence of
specificity in the association, as Wexler [3)
also concluded.
Temporaliry
Hill! (24) stressed the need to consider the
temporal relationship of any association,
particularly for diseases of'slow development~.
There are no data available on which to
address the importance of the temporality of
the association between ETS and CHD. In,
view of the multirfactorial nature of the
disease, which inevitably complicates its
precise development, it is doubtful if there
ever will be any unequivocal data in this
context.
Doselresponse relauonship
Exposure
ETS isa mixture of sid'estream tobacco smoke
(the smoke that originates from the
smouldering end of a cigarette, cigar or a
pipe between puffs), waste mainstream
smoke (i.e. that expelled prior to inhalation))
and exhaled mainstream smoke diluted;with
variable but much largervolbmes ofambient
air. Additional physicalland chemical changes
occurasthe mixture ages. The concentration
and nature of ETS to which an individual is
exposed depends, among other things, on:
- type and'number of cigarettes smoked
ha given time
- volume of room
- ventilation rate
- proximity of burning cigarette.
The effective daily dose for any exposed
individual depends upon the concentration
in various environments and the time spentt
in these environments, which highlights the
diffiCulty, of assessing, exposure under 'real
life' conditions (45). Additionai(y, exposure
rnust relate to a time-span that is appropriate
to the development of the disease.
ETS isa complexmix of manycomponents
and, because no known substance is rep-
resentative of all of these, it is not possible
to monitor ETS exposure meaningfully [5].
Nicotine comes closest to fulfilling some of
the requirements for a suitable marker [46).
Kirketal, (47]Imeasured atmospheric nicotine,
carbon monoxide and particulate matter inn
nearty3,000locations over 30 minute periods
in travelwork, home and leisure situations.
Their data show that levels vary greatly both
within, and between,, situations. They
illustrate how inadequate and misleading is
31

an assessment of ETS exposure in
epidemiology studies based merely on
reported smoking habits of couples living
together, determined from questionnaires.
The reiiabilityof questionnaires represents
a weakness of all experimentall designs,
particularly when smoking spouses them-
selves were not always questioned (43). Ad-
dirionally, some are untruthfull abouttheir
smoking status and misclassification of
non-smokers who are really smokers
invariably results (39,40). In the large Helsing
study 16), the only smoking data that were
collectedion every person was in 1963, and
no attempt was made tosee whether changes
in smoking habits occurred during the study:
Dosimetry
Dosimetry assessment involves the
measurement of a substance in biological
fluids. If ETS has any affect whatsoever on
CHD then the only reasonable way that this
could come about is by absorption of a
component or components of ETS into the
systemic circulation. No such measurements
have been incorporated in any epiderni-
ological study:
As with markers of exposure, there is no
single substance that is reliably representative
of ETS. Both nicotine and carbon monoxide
have been implicated in possible mechanisms
by which active cigarette smoking may
accelerate the development of CHD (49)'.
Nicotine and its metabolite cotinine, which
has a haif-life of 15-20 hours, have been
measured inc (a) ETS exposed non-smokers,
(b) non-smokers not exposed to ETS, (c)
active smokers (150). Very small amounts of
cotinine are found in the plasma, saliva and
urine of nonrsrnokers. Whilst non-smokers
allegedly exposed to ETS are reported to
have higher cotinine levels than non~srnokers
not exposed, these levels are minute
compared with those found in active smokers
(about 1/300) and variation between subjects
is large (up to 10-fold).
Ihinon-smokers, endogenous production
of carbon monoxide results in low blood
levels of carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) in
the range 0.5-1.5% (51). Small increases
of COHb due to ETS exposure may be
indistinguishable from those due to en-
dogenous production and non-tobacco
related sources [1).
Clearly, the amounts of nicotine a nd'carbon
monoxide absorbedifrorn ETS are small and
it is unlikely that either compound plays any
role in the alleged increased relative risk for
CHD of non-smokers exposed to ETS. It
would be surprising, if any other smoke
component was absorbed in significant
amounts from ETS,
Dose/response
Some authors (7,12,15,16) of the studies
listed in Table 1 claim that their data
demonstrate a dose-response relationship
between ETS exposure (based on the number
of cigarettes smoked by the active smoking
partner) an6death from CHD. Ir,iview of the
imprecision of such dosage assessment, these
dairns should'be viewed with caution (52).
Biological plausibility
Although ETS is a different entity, from
mainstream smoke, it contains many of, the
same components, and attempts have been
made to equate ETS exposure with active
smoking in terms of 'cigarette equivalents'.
On such exposure/dosimetry considerations,
the relative risks of more than two reported
in some ETS studies [8,11,15,16,17) are
irnplausibly high, set against the reported
relative risk for active smoking of 1.9 in males
and 1.8 in females [53). Professor Wald con-
cedes thatthe association seems "surprisingly
li3rge" and requires explanation [54] and has
commented that the risk of 1.3 given by
Glantz & Parmley (22) is "too high to be
biologically plausible" [55).
ThaUoneauthor (17)can incorrectiy report
a relative risk of 14.9 (the majorfinding of the
study) and then subsequently 'correct' it to
2.7 whilst maintaining that this "does not
affect the condusions" (56), casts grave
doubt on the conduct of the whole study.
Likewise, when, Hirayama [57]'reported on
the first 14 years of his prospective study,
there was no mention of a higher mortality
rate from CHD of non-smoking women
married to smokers. Armitage (45j pointed
out that "it is difficult to believe that a
32

J
previously unsuspected risk coul'd become
apparent merely as a consequence of three
more years of follow-up". Doll (58J has
commented that if you find something
unexpected but of social significance you
have a responsibility to be sure that you are
right before you publicise your results to the
world. In, the same paper he also offered
additional advice that ". .. as a research
worker, you always ought to try to disprove
your own findings".
Pipe smoking
Pipe smokers inhale tobacco smoke bothi
actively (to an extent) and passively. They
surround themselves in dense clouds of
tobacco smoke and are regularly exposed to
high concentrations of ETS, yet experience
"little if anyexcess risk of'oeathfrorn coronary
heart disease" 159J. 1t is unlikeliy that the
chemical composition of pipe sidestream,
smoke wouid'differ appreciably from that of
cigarette sidestream srrmoke. Therefore, these
observations provide suggestive evidence
against a role of ETS as a cause of death ifrom i
CHD.
Coherence
This criterion addresses the effects of ETS on
biological systems which have beeniclaimed
to support, a causative hypothesis.
Platelet function
Glantz & Parmley (22) claimed that ETS
adversely affects platelet function in a way'
that increases the risk of heart disease. This
condusion is not warranted considering that
the study cited [60] measured a response to
an ETS insultin non-smokers keptIogetherin
an 1ft= room for 20 minutes, while testers
smoked "30 heavy brand" cigarettes. The
relevance of these 'artificial"experiments to
C HD problems is questionable. It is not known
whether, unden normal conditions of ETS
exposure encountered in real-life situations,
the platelet function of non-smokers exposed
to ETS differs from the platelet function of
non-smokers not so exposed.
Fibrinogen levels and thrombogenesis
Dobson,and associates (8) reported plasma
fibrinogen concentrations in the controlF
subjects of their case-control study in ani
attempt to provide mechanistic supoort to
their conclusion that exposure to ETS in the
home increases the risk of fatal and'nonrfatall
heart attack. The authors state that "people
exposed to passive smoking had higher levels
than those not exposed~ (except for passive
smoking at home for wornenY". However,
the results were not significant and the
workplace meansfor non-smoking men and
women (exposed vs. non-exposed) were
v'rrtuallythe same,
Effects of ETS/carbon monoxide on
exercise tolerance
Healthy people can inhale enough carbon
monoxide to reduce the oxygen carrying
capacity of the blood by 10% or more,,
without ill,effect (61 ]. However, people with
reduced circulatory efficiency (e,g. because
of existing heart disease) rnay be temporarily
compromised by exposure to carbon
monoxide; their exercise tolerance may be
reduced and they may develop anginaf pain
sooner than in the absence of carbon mon-
oxide. Aronow (62] reported a reduction in
the duration of exercise until' the onset of,
pain in 10 patients exposed, to ETS, which
resulted in mean COHb levels of 1.77% and
concluded that exposure to ETS was harmful
to patients with angina pectoris. Aronow's
experiments were not, conducted on!a strict
double-blind basis and the measured
end-point was a subjective one. Muchof his
work has now been generally discredited
(1,63,64]. Sheps etal. [,65] have since shown
that blood levels as high as 4% COHb have
no significantieffect on a range of parameters
examined in: patients with ischaemic heart,
disease. This well-controlled study casts
considerable doubt on the suggestion that
elevation of carbon monoxide levels in the
blood resulting from ETS exposure is
demonstrably harmful.
Experirnen r
Hill [24] asked whether the frequency of the
associated event (CHD, death) was affected
by preventative action (modifying ETS
exposure): No data relevant to this question
are currently available. Whether it would be
possible to design a sufficiently sensitive
33

study to demonstrate objectivelythevalue of
preventative action in any specific situation
seems questionable.
Analogy
ETS is one of the many problematical materials
on which toxicologists have had to make
safety evaluatiornjudgements because of its
variable composition,and complexphysico-
chernical'properties, The obvious analogy is
vvithi mainstream tobacco smoke to which
reference has been made in the section on
biological plausibility, Great caution, how-
ever, needs to be exercised in making judge-
ments in this context (52).
Conclusion.
The case for ETS exposure causing CHD is
wholly unconvincing because almost all' of
the accepted 'causationa' criteria remain
unsatisfied. Of particular concern is the
weakness of the association, the likelihood
of the existence of publication bias resulting
in an overestimate of a very lbwrelative risk,
the lack of biological plausibility and the
anecdotall nature of dosimetry assessment.
At the present time, therefore, one is not
able to conclude categorically that ETS is, orr
is not:, harmful in a cardiovascular context. It
is debatable whether the conduct of further
epidemiological studies, frequently recorn-
mended; is practical and just'rfied. Small
studies are a waste of: time and money
because at best~ they can only detect large
risks as significant. Of course it is LheoretJcally
possible to conduct a prospective study, as
envisaged by Wexier [3 ], which wouldtontrol ,
for all confounding variables an6 involve a
sufficient number of subjects to provide
reasonable statistical power. However, even
large studies cannot distinguish with any
certainty between a very low risk and no risk.
Furthermore, without meaningful measure-
ment of prolonged ETS exposure, results
mightstill be inconclusive regarding the ques-
tion of causatiorn, in the meantime, it is
wrong that an ETS/CHD health scare has
been blown up out of all proportion, in the
last fewyears by a passionate anti-ETS health
lobby. Interpretive opinions are not proven
facts; they must be challenged and' a more
balanced point of, view presented to the
general public..
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