May 26, 2003 – The recent publication of a study in the pages of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), which found the dangers of second-hand smoke to have been exaggerated, has sparked controversy.
First, the American Cancer Society (ACS) reveals that the study in question was partly funded by the tobacco industry and that there is therefore reason to question the validity of its conclusions. The researchers obtained funding from the Center for Indoor Air Research, an organization funded by tobacco company Phillip Morris, after their request for funding was denied by the US government.
The ACS also highlights the methodological problems that weaken the study. She underlines that the criterion of exposure to second-hand smoke chosen by the researchers (namely the presence or not of a smoking spouse) is not reliable. She also notes that the researchers simply assumed that participants who lived with a smoking spouse in 1959 continued to do so for the next 38 years, without verifying whether this was indeed the case.
For its part, Action on Smoking, a British anti-smoking group, accuses the researchers of having deliberately distorted their results in order to please the tobacco industry. The organization believes that this research provides valuable ammunition to those who would like to fight, for example, laws banning smoking in public places.
The British Medical Journal, one of the most prestigious medical publications in the world, denies having anything to be ashamed of. The researchers are described there as “two individuals who have never smoked whose main interest is a precise measure of the impacts of tobacco on health”. The BMJ also asserts that funding for this study could not be obtained elsewhere and that any decision to publish a study in its pages is taken with the utmost seriousness.
In another way, a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology offers further demonstration of the apparent dangers of second-hand smoke. US researchers have determined that children from smoking homes are 27% more likely to miss school due to the disease than those from non-smoking homes. In addition to having an impact on children’s health, second-hand smoke would also be harmful to their education.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to ACS and BBC News; May 15 and 26, 2003.