Lung Cancer and Exposure to Tobacco Smoke in the Household

THE 1972 Surgeon General's report dealt with the health consequences of passive smoking or environmental tobacco smoke for the first time. 1 In 1986 the entire report was devoted to the issue; it concluded that "involuntary smoking is a cause of disease including lung cancer in healthy non-smokers." 2 More than a dozen epidemiologic studies have assessed the relation between passive smoking and lung cancer. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 The findings have ranged from no detectable increase in risk 10 , 17 to a moderate (about twofold), statistically significant increase. 4 5 6 7 Most studies have found only small elevations in risk, which are frequently not statistically significant. 3 , 8 , 9 In a meta-analysis of . . .