Tobacco Documents Online

Some researchers have reported lung function is impaired in 'chi9.dren of smokers. Others have found neither such differences nor any heightened frequency of various respiratory symptoms in either the children or the nonsmoking spouses of smokers. Yet there are those who claim that cigarette smoking harms not only the smoker but also those with whom the smoker lives or works. The health significance of reported lung function differences, however, has not been established. What is missing too often in the ETS controversy is open-minded, unbiased weighing of the scientific evidence. Those persons who inveigh blindly against ETS might well heed the recent.words of a scientist who for many years headed major government research efforts in smoking and health. "Strong emotional pressures have influenced the design and interpretation of research efforts in this [ETS] area," warned Gio Gori at a scientific meeting in early 1984. "However, the combined evidence so far obtained does not support the contention that [ETS] under prevalent conditions is conducive to objectively measurable health risks." N cn 0 ~ ~ A W N 10 N Recently, three scientific workshops were convened to examine the breadth and depth of research on ETS exposure. Their conclusions were reported independently. - 10 -

Available evidence does not confirm that ETS causes chronic health problems, concluded Ragnar Rylander, a Swedish researcher who i conducted the first of the international workshops in March 1983 in Geneva. "An overall evaluation based upon available scientific data leads to the conclusion that an increased risk [in lung cancer] for nonsmokers from ETS exposure has not been established," he said. Seventeen scientists from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada attended. The second workshop, called in May 1983 by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the U.S. Public Health Service, drew 21 U.S. investigators from the fields of epidemiology, statistics and adult and pediatric pulmonary medicine to examine available research on the possible respiratory effects of ETS. Among the conclusions: "A review of the data from the studies which have been carried out or are in progress which address the effect of [ETS] on the respiratory system suggests that the effect varies from negligible to quite small." The third and largest workshop, convened in Vienna in April this year and sponsored by the Austrian and Bavarian health ministries, drew 23 scientific participants, from the U.S., Europe and Japan. A summary issued by Ernst Wynder, president of the American Health Foundation, and H. Valentin, president of the Bavarian Academy - 11 -

for Occupational and Social Medicine, called for further research on the ~TS question, involving an international collaboration of the various scientific disciplines. Their report concluded with a statement that "should the lawmakers wish to take legislative measures in connection with [ETS], they cannot at present justify this on the basis of health dangers...." Despite such conclusions by respected members of the scientific community, there are those who are swayed by strong emotional pressures, as Gori declared, "at the cost of leaving science abused in too many instances." Even declared foes of smoking who in July 1983 attended the Fifth World Conference on Smoking and Health in Winnipeg, Canada, recognized the inconclusiveness of the evidence. Among the conference recommen- dations: More research on health effects of ETS. - 12 -

1. Fifth World Conference on Smoking and Health, "Conference Recommendations," Winnipeg, Canada, July 10-15, 1983, 13 pp. 2. Gori G.B., "Sidestream Smoke -- Fact and Fiction," preprint, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., 1984. 3. Rylander R., Peterson Y., Snella M.-C. (eds.), ETS -- Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Report from a Workshop on Effects and Exposure Levels, March 15-17, 1983, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 152 pp. 4. U.S. Public Health Service, Report of Workshop on Respiratory Effects of Involuntary Smoke Exposure: Epidemiologic Studies, May 1-3, 1983, Department of Health and Human Services, December 1983, 12 pp. 5. Wynder E., Valentin H., workshop on "Passive Smoking from a Medical Viewpoint," Vienna, Austria, Bavarian Academy for Occupational and Social Medicine news release summary (trans.), April 11, 1984. N cn 0 ~