More details on the new secondhand smoke study


The primary finding of the new secondhand smoke study [Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1998;90:1440-50] is no statistically significant associations for lung cancer and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke from spouses, the workplace and/or social settings.

Simply based on these facts, the study results do not associate secondhand smoke with lung cancer. End of story.

But this doesn't mean the researchers didn't try to squeeze everything they could from this lemon:

The saddest part is the editorial written by William J. Blot and Joseph K. McLaughlin of the International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, MD -- a place where former government epidemiologists go to continue breastfeeding from the government.

Blot (one of the engineers on the EPA railroad that labelled ETS a lung carcinogen in 1993) and McLaughlin wrote "When all the evidence, including the important new data reported in this issue of the Journal, is assessed, the inescapable scientific conclusion is that ETS is a low-level lung carcinogen."

The only "inescapable scientific conclusion" is that claims implicating secondhand smoke as a lung carcinogen are junk science.

Comments on this posting?

Click here to post a public comment on the Trash Talk Bulletin Board.

Click here to send a private comment to the Junkman.


Material presented on this home page constitutes opinion of Steven J. Milloy.
Copyright © 1998 Steven J. Milloy. All rights reserved on original material. Material copyrighted by others is used either with permission or under a claim of "fair use." Site developed and hosted by WestLake Solutions, Inc.
 1