Epidemiologic studies of passive smoking and lung cancer: A possible role for Benzo(a)pyrene‐DNA adduct measurements

Abstract

The question as to whether passive smoking increases lung cancer risk continues to be a controversial issue. A brief critical review is presented of the available epidemio‐logical studies. The discrepancies between studies have been largely attributed to the widely varying ways exposure to passive smoke has been assessed in different studies. So far, all studies have estimated exposure from interview data only. Since passive smoking may occur in many settings and may result from many sources, and since the intensity of exposure is very difficult to assess by interviewing techniques, it has been found virtually impossible to quantify exposure in the studies available now. It is argued that incorporation of biochemical assessments of tobacco smoke constituents and their metabolites can greatly improve future studies by providing a more accurate measure of exposure. The requirements that such laboratory methods should meet in order to become a useful tool in epidemiological investigations are discussed.

Key words:

• Passive smoking
• lung cancer
• benzo(a)pyrene
• biological monitoring