Originally published February 3 2005
Passive smoking linked to lung cancer in children
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A massive European study has found that children exposed to a great deal of second-hand smoke have three times the risk of later contracting lung cancer. The study followed more than 330,000 non-smokers from a variety of countries. The risk of contracting cancer was generally proportional to the amount of smoke and the frequency of exposure.
Children exposed to passive smoking on a daily basis face more than triple the risk of lung cancer in later life compared to youngsters who live in smoke-free environments, research revealed.
The massive study, involving more than 303,000 non-smokers across Europe, found living in a smoky environment as a child significantly increased the danger of lung cancer in adulthood.
Researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, found youngsters who experienced passive smoking every day for many hours had over treble the risk of cancer compared to children with smoke-free upbringings.
Children who experienced passive smoking daily but not for many hours faced twice the risk of lung cancer.
Even youngsters exposed to passive smoking just a few times a week were one-and-a-half times more likely to develop lung cancer, according to Professor Paolo Vineis and colleagues from Imperial College London.
"Environmental tobacco smoke exposure during childhood showed an association with lung cancer, particularly among those who had never smoked," the researchers said.
"The association was significant for daily exposure for many hours."
Of all those studied 123,479 said they had been exposed to passive smoking and the researchers followed their progress for around seven years.
They found that 97 people developed lung cancer, while 20 more had upper respiratory cancers such as cancer of the larynx.
Fourteen died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during the seven years of follow-up.
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