A report by the World Health Organization reveals that tobacco use kills 5 million people worldwide each year. The WHO attributes 600,000 of those deaths to exposure to secondhand smoke.
"As ACSH points out in our publication on the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), ETS can have serious impacts on nonsmokers, including increased risk of asthma, ear infections, and more," says Dr. Whelan. "Still, it is unlikely that it causes 600,000 deaths each year, but then again, we cannot make a science-based estimate on what mortality from ETS might be."
"This ties into our campaign to promote use of harm reduction techniques including smokeless tobacco," says Dr. Ross. "Smokeless tobacco not only has 100-fold less health risk than smoking, but also has zero risk of secondhand smoke."