Are passive smoking, air pollution and obesity a greater mortality risk than major radiation incidents?

Underestimation of risk of passive smoking

michiyuki matsuzaki   (2007-12-30 11:20)  Fukagawa City Hospital

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

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