To the editor:

A Jan. 19 letter asked for proof that second-hand smoke is dangerous.

There have been numerous studies that show the deadly consequences of second-hand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), on the health of non-smokers. A comprehensive analysis can be found in the monograph “Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke” by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The 430-page publication was based on a study in 1997 by the California EPA. As noted by then U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., “Using the most up-to-date evidence available, Cal/EPA concluded that ETS causes not only lung cancer in adults and respiratory problems in children, but also low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, middle ear infections, nasal sinus cancer and heart disease morbidity and mortality.”

It is not the smell of tobacco smoke or even the haze it leaves in the air that is the biggest problem. It is in what is not seen or smelled that the absolute danger lies. The carcinogens and poisons are not visible to the senses but deadly to the body.

Smokers choose to smoke, regardless of the well-known health risks, but that decision does not give them the right to poison the air of those who must share breathing space with them in restaurants and other public places.

Judy Keller, Lawrence,

executive director,

American Lung Association of

Kansas