Citing risks for
breast cancer and other diseases, a California agency
voted on Thursday to classify secondhand tobacco smoke as a
"toxic air contaminant," a first-in-the-nation move
that could ultimately toughen state regulations
against smoking.
The designation
by California's Air Resources Board starts a process that
could lead to further smoking bans in the nation's largest
state, which has often pioneered in health and
environmental regulation.
Scientific
studies in recent years have warned about the health impact
from secondhand smoke and linked it to a wide array of
ailments including heart disease, lung cancer and
other respiratory ailments, and breast cancer.
"I think there is
no question that this puts California way ahead," said
John Froines, chairman of the Air Resources Board's
Scientific Review Panel. "To actually have the major air
pollution agency in the state of California to list
ETS [environmental tobacco smoke] as a toxic air
contaminant is going to have immense impact, we think,
in terms of public education around other states. It will
clearly lead to regulatory changes within the state."
The panel's 2005
study found that about 16% of all Californians smoked,
but 56% of adults and 64% of adolescents were exposed to
secondhand smoke.
"Because the
diseases are common and ETS exposure is frequent and
widespread, the overall impact can be quite large," the
study found.
California's
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment estimates
that as many as 5,500 nonsmoking Californians die annually
of heart disease related to secondhand smoke, and as
many as 1,100 die from lung cancer caused by
secondhand smoke.
The decision in
the California state capital kicks off a process that
will likely take two or three years as officials study ways
to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke.
In 1994,
California became the first U.S. state to bar smoking in the
workplace, then followed up with bans on smoking in
restaurants and bars. Other American cities and states
have since adopted similar prohibitions. Several
California cities have enacted wider bans, such as San
Francisco, which now prohibits smoking in city parks,
and Los Angeles, which bars smoking at piers and
beaches.
Some health
experts say the ultimate impact of California's decision to
classify secondhand smoke as a toxin could reach beyond the
United States.
"It is important
because it has included important new findings, new
scientific information that will not only help California
policy makers but will help those across the United
States address this issue," said Paul Knepprath of the
American Lung Association of California. "And, as I
think some board members mentioned, this impact on the
international community could be very helpful."
Some foreign
countries, including Ireland, Norway, and Sweden, have
workplace smoking bans.
A spokeswoman for
tobacco giant Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria
Group, declined to comment. (Reuters)