Tobacco giant says ventilation no benefit to passive smokers

THE world’s largest tobacco manufacturer has conceded that ventilation in pubs and restaurants has no health benefits for passive smokers.

Philip Morris also acknowledges that passive smoking can be fatal and even lead to cot deaths.

The American company flatly contradicts the view of Ireland’s hospitality industry that ventilation in pubs and restaurants can address the deadly health affects of passive smoking.

It also counters the submission made by Irish cigarette makers to the Health and Safety Authority last week on the perceived benefits of ventilation.

A report by the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee, which represents PJ Carroll and Co, Gallaher and John Player and Sons, said designated smoking areas together with good ventilation would help solve any potential health problems.

But Philip Morris, whose brands include Marlboro and Benson & Hedges, says the opposite in a warning about the dangers of passive smoking on its own website. While ventilation can reduce the sight and smell of tobacco smoke, “it is not shown to address the health effects of secondhand smoke,” according to the company. It defines ventilation as merely “the dilution of unwanted indoor air constituents (such as smoke or odours) with fresh outdoor air.”

According to ASH Ireland, the anti-smoking lobby, the statement by Philip Morris puts an end to the debate about ventilation in Irish pubs. “We could not have put it better ourselves,” a spokesperson said.

The world’s second-biggest tobacco firm, BAT Industries, argued last week that the effects of passive smoking had been exaggerated. Philip Morris, on the other hand, said it supports the view of US health officials that it causes cancer, asthma and other life threatening illnesses and that children are particularly vulnerable.

It even argues that smoking should be regulated in public places and that governments should put up notices warning of the dangers of passive smoking in places where it is permitted. Philip Morris, whose headquarters are in New York, says: “public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes disease, including lung cancer and heart disease, in non-smoking adults, as well as causing conditions in children such as asthma, respiratory infections, cough, wheeze, otitis media (middle ear infection) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

“Particular care should be exercised where children are concerned, and adults should avoid smoking around them,” says the company.

The website warning adds: “Philip Morris USA believes that the conclusions of public health officials concerning environmental tobacco smoke are sufficient to warrant measures that regulate smoking in public places. We also believe that where smoking is permitted, the government should require the posting of warning notices that communicate public health officials’ conclusions that secondhand smoke causes disease in non-smokers.”

The company adds: “There is no such thing as a safe cigarette.”