From: Joe@smokefree.org
Date: Thu, 01/26/06
Secondhand Smoke Significantly Increases Risk of Breast Cancer
Women under fifty face 68% increased risk of breast cancer
California, 1/26/2006-- California's Air Resources Board voted today to approve
a California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) report concluding that
secondhand smoke causes an average 68% increase in breast cancer risk for women
younger than 50. Some women who have not reached menopause have as much as a
120% higher risk.
"This is the most careful analysis of the data up to the most current time frame
that exists anywhere," says Cheryl Healton, president of the American Legacy
Foundation, a health group in Washington DC. "It has gone substantially further
than anything else and is carefully vetted through a group of very
well-respected scientists."
A Surgeon General's report on secondhand smoke, which looks at the breast cancer
link, is due later this year. The International Agency for Research on Cancer is
also studying the issue.
CalEPA's report strengthens existing evidence, accepted in the scientific
community, that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease, adult
asthma, premature birth and sudden infant death syndrome.
California's Air Resources Board has a history of leading the federal government
on environmental issues. In the 1960s, before the federal EPA was created, the
board was the first agency to set tailpipe emission standards. Later it required
automakers to meet the first standards to control smog-forming emissions.
It also made California the first state to phase out leaded gasoline and to
require an additive to cut carbon monoxide emissions. In 2004, the board wrote
the first rules requiring automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
CalEPA scientists based their conclusion on recent human studies that they
determined had more careful assessments of long-term exposure to tobacco smoke.
The report also gave more weight to toxicology evidence from animal studies than
previous studies by the Surgeon General and others.
It's well-documented that chemicals from cigarettes cause breast cancer in lab
animals.
To win smokefree air in your state, go to http://www.smokefree.net/alerts.php
Joseph W. Cherner
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
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