From a scientific standpoint, the story of exposure to secondhand smoke has been muddled by pro-smoking advocates. These critics make attempts at poking holes in the previous epidemiological research studies linking smoke exposure to long-term adverse health effects, such as cancer and heart disease.

What the pro-smoking critics seem to forget is that the health effects of most of the pollutants that make up secondhand smoke – such as fine particles, carbon monoxide, benzene, PAHs – already are well-known in environmental science.