Reply #42: and now it's ok that smog causes as many illnesses as long-term exposure to second hand smoke?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Previous studies have linked soot in the air to many respiratory ailments and even death, but the new study is the most definitive yet on the long term impact of such air pollution, according to New York University (NYU) School of Medicine and Brigham Young University researchers who led the study.
Over many years, the danger of breathing soot filled air in polluted cities is comparable to the health risks associated with long term exposure to second hand smoke, according to the authors of the study, which evaluated the effects of air pollution on human health over a 16 year period.

The researchers calculated that the number of deaths from lung cancer increases by eight percent for every additional 10 micrograms of fine particulate matter found in a cubic meter of air.

"This study is compelling because it involved hundreds of thousands of people in many cities across the U.S. who were followed for almost two decades," said George Thurston, associate professor of environmental medicine at NYU School of Medicine, the study's co-leader.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2002/2002-03-06-07.asp

I don't smoke inside when non-smokers are present... that's a given. I just want to see the same level of vitrol directed at the people who polute ALL our air, not just at smokers.