I am a physician, and also interested in passive smoking problem. I think this article has a unique viewpoint on risk communication about environmental pollution.
But I should point out that he underestimated the risk associated with passive smoking. There are some recent articles(1,2) concerning the lifetime all-cause mortality due to passive smoking, suggesting that 10~30% of nonsmokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at home will be dead prematurely.
1)Hill S, et al.: Mortality among "never smokers" living with smokers: two cohort studies, 1981-4 and 1996-9. BMJ. 328:988, 2004.
2)McGhee SM, et al.: Mortality associated with passive smoking in Hong Kong. BMJ. 330:287,2005.
Underestimation of risk of passive smoking
30 December 2007
I am a physician, and also interested in passive smoking problem. I think this article has a unique viewpoint on risk communication about environmental pollution.
But I should point out that he underestimated the risk associated with passive smoking. There are some recent articles(1,2) concerning the lifetime all-cause mortality due to passive smoking, suggesting that 10~30% of nonsmokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at home will be dead prematurely.
1)Hill S, et al.: Mortality among "never smokers" living with smokers: two cohort studies, 1981-4 and 1996-9. BMJ. 328:988, 2004.
2)McGhee SM, et al.: Mortality associated with passive smoking in Hong Kong. BMJ. 330:287,2005.
Competing interests
none