A report mandated by Congress on the potential health effects of second-hand tobacco smoke contradicts an earlier study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA concluded that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a known human carcinogen, responsible for about 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers. However, the report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) criticized the methods used by the EPA and said "it is possible that very few or even no deaths can be attributed to ETS." The CRS report noted:

• The EPA based its analysis on more than 30 epidemiological studies of lung cancer among adult nonsmoking women, all of which assumed that if their spouse smoked, they were exposed.

• The studies depended on accurate reporting by the women in order to classify them by risk, but faulty memories could cause errors that dramatically overstate risk.

• The EPA assumed second-hand smoke was comparable to "active" smoking, although there is substantial dilution and changes in the composition of second-hand smoke compared to even low levels of active smoking.

Both the CRS and the Department of Energy (DOE) also have criticized as inadequate the science used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in proposing workplace standards for second-hand tobacco smoke.

Source: "Congressional Report Faults EPA on ETS Risk Assessment," EPA Watch, Vol. 4, No. 21, November 30, 1995.