Yesterday the Congressional Research Service (CRS) became the latest In a long line of federal agencies to ' publicly conclude that secondhand tobacco smoke causes lung cancer In nonsmokers.

The same conclusion had previously been reached by the U.S. Public Health Service, National Research Council, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), National Cancer Institute, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), among others. Similar findings have also been made by the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization (WHO), American Cancer Society, Consumer Reports, American Public Health Association, and other nongovernmental bodies.

The CRS report was particularly Interesting because an earlier report by the same agency, although written by economists with no medical or epidemiological training, had been critical of the EPA's massive report.

Although yesterday's CRS report noted areas where further research might be Important, and some uncertainties In making precise estimates of the relative risk and number of annual deaths, the ORS did not refute the basic conclusion of all of these studies: tobacco smoke causes cancer In nonsmokers.

Using date from the largest and most carefully conducted study one which was not available at the time the EPA report was Issued - the CRS concludes that the best estimate of nonsmokers killed each year by lung cancer caused by other people's tobacco smoke Is 2780. The EPA's estimate was 3300.

Using this same data, the CRS estimates that living with a smoker almost triples a nonsmoker's risk of dying of lung cancer. It also concludes that the number of lung cancer deaths from secondhand smoke Is almost equal to all deaths resulting from surgery, and exceeds those caused by X-rays, bicycles, home appliance accidents, commercial aviation, lightning, skiing, and vaccinations.

The CRS report mentioned more recent studies which suggest that secondhand smoke also causes a far larger number of nonsmoker deaths each year from heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases, but does not evaluate then.

John Banzhaf, spokesman for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said that the CRS report was both conservative and confusing.

ASH - ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH 2013 H Street, NW / Washington, DC 20006 / (202) 659-4310