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London (pte013/28.01.2005/10:30) - Children brought up in a smoking home are three times more likely to contract lung cancer later in life than those who are not regularly exposed to smoking, according to new research. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, researchers at Imperial College in London http://www.ic.ac.uk have said that the link between lung cancer and passive smoking is "significant". The scientists tracked the progress of more than 123,000 participants over a period of seven years. Cancer Research UK has also aired its concerns, saying the study raised a "terrifying spectre" for smoking parents.
The researchers followed the lives of 123,479 volunteers, including people that had never smoked and others that had stopped smoking, but who had all been exposed to second-hand smoke in their childhoods. They found that over the seven-year period, 97 people developed lung cancer and another 20 had related cancers such as cancer of the larynx. 14 people died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. "Environmental tobacco smoke exposure during childhood showed an association with lung cancer, particularly among those who had never smoked," the researchers said. According to the researchers, the study reinforced past research about the cancerous effects of passive smoking. They also found that ex-smokers faced up to twice the risk of respiratory diseases from passive smoke than those who had never smoked. This is due to the probability that their lungs were already damaged, making them more at risk to the effects of passive smoking, the researchers say.
According to the British Medical Association (BMA) http://www.bma.org.uk , the "important study" confirmed that passive smoking kills. "The results show clearly that second-hand smoke causes cancer of the lung, mouth and throat," said a BMA spokesman. According to Robert West, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco studies, society's attitude towards passive smoking "had to change". "As a society we recognise that non-smokers need to be protected from carcinogens when at work but we are not doing enough to protect the most vulnerable non-smokers of all - children," he said.
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