For definition of groups, see Preamble.
VOL.: 83 (2002)
5. Summary of Data Reported and
Evaluation
5.1
Exposure data
Involuntary (or passive) smoking is exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, which is a mixture of exhaled mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke released from the smouldering cigarette or other smoking device (cigar, pipe, bidi, etc.) and diluted with ambient air. Involuntary smoking involves inhaling carcinogens, as well as other toxic components, that are present in secondhand tobacco smoke. Secondhand tobacco smoke is sometimes referred to as ‘environmental’ tobacco smoke. Carcinogens that occur in secondhand tobacco smoke include benzene, 1,3-butadiene, benzo[a]pyrene, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone and many others.
Secondhand tobacco smoke consists of a gas phase and a particulate phase; it changes during its dilution and distribution in the environment and upon ageing. The concentrations of respirable particles may be elevated substantially in enclosed spaces containing secondhand tobacco smoke. The composition of tobacco smoke inhaled involuntarily is variable quantitatively and depends on the smoking patterns of the smokers who are producing the smoke as well as the composition and design of the cigarettes or other smoking devices. The secondhand tobacco smoke produced by smoking cigarettes has been most intensively studied.
Secondhand tobacco smoke contains nicotine as well as carcinogens and toxins. Nicotine concentrations in the air in homes of smokers and in workplaces where smoking is permitted typically range on average from 2 to 10 micrograms/m3.
5.2
Human carcinogenicity data
Lung cancer
Involuntary smoking involves exposure to the same numerous carcinogens and toxic substances that are present in tobacco smoke produced by active smoking, which is the principal cause of lung cancer. As noted in the previous IARC Monograph on tobacco smoking, this implies that there will be some risk of lung cancer from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.
More than 50 studies of involuntary smoking and lung cancer risk in never-smokers, especially spouses of smokers, have been published during the last 25 years. These studies have been carried out in many countries. Most showed an increased risk, especially for persons with higher exposures. To evaluate the information collectively, in particular from those studies with a limited number of cases, meta-analyses have been conducted in which the relative risk estimates from the individual studies are pooled together. These meta-analyses show that there is a statistically significant and consistent association between lung cancer risk in spouses of smokers and exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke from the spouse who smokes. The excess risk is of the order of 20% for women and 30% for men and remains after controlling for some potential sources of bias and confounding. The excess risk increases with increasing exposure. Furthermore, other published meta-analyses of lung cancer in never-smokers exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke at the workplace have found a statistically significant increase in risk of 12–19%. This evidence is sufficient to conclude that involuntary smoking is a cause of lung cancer in never-smokers. The magnitudes of the observed risks are reasonably consistent with predictions based on studies of active smoking in many populations.
Breast cancer
The collective evidence on breast cancer risk associated with involuntary exposure of never-smokers to tobacco smoke is inconsistent. Although four of the 10 case–control studies found statistically significant increases in risks, prospective cohort studies as a whole and, particularly, the two large cohort studies in the USA of nurses and of volunteers in the Cancer Prevention Study II provided no support for a causal relation between involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke and breast cancer in never-smokers. The lack of a positive dose–response also argues against a causal interpretation of these findings. Finally, the lack of an association of breast cancer with active smoking weighs heavily against the possibility that involuntary smoking increases the risk for breast cancer, as no data are available to establish that different mechanisms of carcinogenic action operate at the different dose levels of active and of involuntary smoking.
Childhood cancer
Overall, the findings from studies of childhood cancer and exposure to parental smoking are inconsistent and are likely to be affected by bias. There is a suggestion of a modest association between exposure to maternal tobacco smoke during pregnancy and childhood cancer for all cancer sites combined; however, this is in contrast with the null findings for individual sites. Studies on paternal tobacco smoking suggest a small increased risk for lymphomas, but bias and confounding cannot be ruled out.
Other cancer sites
Data are conflicting and sparse for associations between involuntary smoking and cancers of the nasopharynx, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, cervix, gastrointestinal tract and cancers at all sites combined. It is unlikely that any effects are produced in passive smokers that are not produced to a greater extent in active smokers or that types of effects that are not seen in active smokers will be seen in passive smokers.
5.3
Animal carcinogenicity data
Secondhand tobacco smoke for carcinogenicity studies in animals is produced by machines that simulate human active smoking patterns and combine mainstream and sidestream smoke in various proportions. Such mixtures have been tested for carcinogenicity by inhalation studies in rodents. The experimental model systems for exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke do not fully simulate human exposures, and the tumours that develop in animals are not completely representative of human cancer. Nevertheless, the animal data provide valuable insights regarding the carcinogenic potential of secondhand tobacco smoke.
A mixture of 89% sidestream smoke and 11% mainstream smoke has been tested for carcinogenic activity in mouse strains that are highly susceptible to lung tumours (strains A/J and Swiss). In strain A/J mice, this mixture consistently produces a significant, modest increase in lung tumour incidence and lung tumour multiplicity when the mice are exposed for 5 months followed by a 4-month recovery period. These lung tumours are predominantly adenomas. Continuous exposure of strain A/J mice to the above mixture of mainstream and sidestream tobacco smoke for 9 months with no recovery period did not increase the incidence of lung tumours. In Swiss strain mice, the same mixture induced lung tumours by both protocols, i.e. when the animals were exposed for 5 months followed by a 4-month recovery period and when they were exposed continuously for 9 months with no recovery period. In addition, exposure of Swiss mice to the tobacco smoke mixture for a shorter period was sufficient to induce lung tumours.
Condensates of sidestream and of mainstream cigarette smoke have been tested for carcinogenicity. Both kinds of condensates produced a spectrum of benign and malignant skin tumours in mice following topical application, and the sidestream condensate exhibited higher carcinogenic activity. Sidestream smoke condensate was shown to produce a dose-dependent increase in lung tumours in rats following implantation into the lungs.
Increased relative risks for lung and sinonasal cancer have been reported in companion animals (dogs) exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke in homes.
5.4
Other relevant data
Involuntary smoking has been associated with a number of non-neoplastic diseases and adverse effects in never-smokers, including both children and adults. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is causally associated with coronary heart disease. From the available meta-analyses, it has been estimated that involuntary smoking increases the risk of an acute coronary heart disease event by 25–35%. Adverse effects of involuntary smoking on the respiratory system have also been detected. In adults, the strongest evidence for a causal relation exists for chronic respiratory symptoms. Some effects on lung function have been detected, but their medical relevance is uncertain.
Data on the hormonal and metabolic effects of involuntary smoking are sparse. However, female involuntary smokers do not appear to weigh less than women who are not exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke, a pattern that contrasts with the findings for active smoking. No consistent association of maternal exposure to secondhand smoke with fertility or fecundity has been identified. There is no clear association of passive smoking with age at menopause.
Maternal cigarette smoking has repeatedly been associated with adverse effects on fetal growth; full-term infants born to women who smoke weigh about 200 g less than those born to nonsmokers. A smaller adverse effect has been attributed to maternal passive smoking.
Cotinine, and its parent compound nicotine, are highly specific for exposure to secondhand smoke. Because of its favourable biological half-life and the sensitivity of techniques for quantifying it, cotinine is currently the most suitable biomarker for assessing recent exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke uptake and metabolism in adults, children and newborns.
Several studies in humans have shown that concentrations of adducts of carcinogens to biological macromolecules, including haemoglobin adducts of aromatic amines and albumin adducts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are higher in adult involuntary smokers and in the children of smoking mothers than in individuals not exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke. Protein adduct concentrations in fetal cord blood correlate with those in maternal blood but are lower. Fewer studies have investigated DNA adduct levels in white blood cells of exposed and unexposed nonsmokers, and most studies have not shown clear differences.
In studies of urinary biomarkers, metabolites of the tobacco-specific carcinogen, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, have been found to be consistently elevated in involuntary smokers. Levels of these metabolites are 1–5% as great as those found in smokers. The data demonstrating uptake of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, a lung carcinogen in rodents, by nonsmokers are supportive of a causal link between exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and development of lung cancer.
The exposure of experimental animals, primarily rodents, to secondhand tobacco smoke has several biological effects that include (i) increases or decreases in the activity of phase I enzymes involved in carcinogen metabolism; (ii) increased expression of nitric oxide synthase, xanthine oxidase and various protein kinases; (iii) the formation of smoke-related DNA adducts in several tissues; and (iv) the presence of urinary biomarkers of exposure to tobacco smoke.
In adult experimental animals, sidestream tobacco smoke has been found to produce changes that are similar to those observed with exposure of humans to secondhand tobacco smoke. These include inflammatory changes in the airways and accelerated formation of arteriosclerotic plaques. Although the changes are often comparatively minor and require exposure to rather elevated concentrations of sidestream smoke, they support the results of human epidemiological studies. During pre- and postnatal exposure, sidestream smoke produces intrauterine growth retardation, changes the pattern of metabolic enzymes in the developing lung, and gives rise to hyperplasia of the pulmonary neuroendocrine cell population. In addition, it adversely affects pulmonary compliance and airway responsiveness to pharmacological challenges.
In humans, involuntary smoking is associated with increased concentrations of mutagens in urine. Some studies have shown a correlation of urinary mutagenicity with concentrations of urinary cotinine. Increased levels of sister chromatid exchanges have not been observed in involuntary smokers; however, there is some indication of elevated levels in exposed children. Lung tumours from nonsmokers exposed to tobacco smoke contain TP53 and KRAS mutations that are similar to those found in tumours from smokers. The genotoxicity of sidestream smoke, ‘environmental’ tobacco smoke, sidestream smoke condensate or a mixture of sidestream and mainstream smoke condensates has been demonstrated in experimental systems in vitro and in vivo.
5.5
Evaluation
There is sufficient evidence that involuntary smoking (exposure to secondhand or 'environmental' tobacco smoke) causes lung cancer in humans.
There is limited evidence in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity of mixtures of mainstream and sidestream tobacco smoke.
There is sufficient evidence in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity of sidestream smoke condensates.
In addition, the Working Group noted that there are published reports on possible carcinogenic effects of secondhand tobacco smoke in household pet dogs.
Overall evaluation
Involuntary smoking (exposure to secondhand or 'environmental' tobacco smoke) is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).
For definition of the italicized terms, see Preamble.
See Also:
Toxicological Abbreviations