The California Air Resources Board on Thursday voted 6-0 to classify secondhand tobacco smoke as a "toxic air contaminant" after a report found links between secondhand smoke and an increased risk of breast cancer and reproductive problems, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Kay, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/27). The report, which was conducted by the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, looked at more than 1,000 studies on the effects of secondhand smoke and finds that young women exposed to the smoke increased their risk for breast cancer by 68% to 120% (AP/New York Times, 1/27). The report also finds that secondhand smoke can cause preterm deliveries and infants to be born with low birthweights (Kleffman, Contra Costa Times, 1/27). According to the Los Angeles Times, the report's findings on breast cancer were the first ever to be made by a government agency in the U.S. (Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 1/27). Sanford Barsky, a researcher associated with the tobacco company R.J. Reynolds, in testimony to ARB said the report "either ignores mentioning or does not give the appropriate weight" to studies that have disputed the link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer, such as a 2004 report by the U.S. surgeon general (AP/New York Times, 1/27). Some groups, such as the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, say more research needs to be done before such a link can be confirmed, USA Today reports. "We're not disputing there's a plausibility that secondhand smoke could cause breast cancer," Harmon Eyre, ACS' chief medical officer, said, adding, "All we're saying is that the evidence has just not reached that level" (Ritter, USA Today, 1/27). According to the Los Angeles Times, ARB now has three years to consider whether possible regulations against secondhand smoke should be enforced in the state, but public education programs coordinated by ARB and the Department of Health Services are expected to begin immediately (Los Angeles Times, 1/27).

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