Dear Ann Landers,
y brother's wife, Olga, lights one cigarette off the other. I've seen her forget she has one going in the ashtray and then light another one. My husband and I do not smoke. We find Olga's continual smoking a nuisance. Last night, we were playing cards, and Olga was, as usual, smoking up a storm. I said, "Please blow it over there. I don't want your lung cancer.'1 She replied, "Secondhand smoke is harmless. You're getting crotchety." I say a person does not need to inhale smoke to be harmed by it, and that being around smoke can be damaging. What do you say, Ann? -Choking in Sioux Falls

Dear Choking,
Never mind what I say. Here's what the Interstate Commerce Commission said in 1972 when it ruled that smokers must sit in the back of the bus: "Secondhand smoke is an extreme irritant to humans, particularly with respect to its effect upon eyes and breath-ing." Furthermore, Dr. D. M. Cousin of Paris at a recent European council on smoking said: "Non-smokers can inhale smoke equivalent to one pack if they spend a day in a smoke-filled room." Here's what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have to say about secondhand smoke today: Secondhand smoke has been classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a known cause of lung cancer in humans. Passive smoking is estimated by the EPA to cause approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths in nonsmokers each year. Nonsmokers who live with smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer than other nonsmoking adults. The developing lungs of young children are also affected by exposure to secondhand smoke. Infants and young children whose parents smoke are among the most seriously affected by exposure to secondhand smoke, being at increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis. A baby who lives in a home where one or both parents smoke is more likely to have lung disease serious enough to need treatment in a hospital during the first two years of life. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are also more likely to have reduced lung function and symptoms of respiratory irritation like coughing, excess phlegm and wheezing. 2 II 2 I ANN LANI1EIIS Passive smoking can lead to a buildup of fluid in the middle ear, the most common cause of hospitalization of children for an operation. Asthmatic children are especially at risk. The EPA estimates that ex-posure to secondhand smoke increases the number of episodes and severity of symptoms in hundreds of thousands of asthmatic children. The EPA estimates that between 200,000 and 1,000,000 asthmatic chil-dren have their condition made worse by exposure to secondhand smoke. Passive smoking may also cause thousands of nonasthmatic chil-dren to develop asthma each year. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes irritation of the eye, nose and throat. Passive smoking can also irritate the lungs, leading to coughing, ex-cess phlegm, chest discomfort and reduced lung function. Secondhand smoke may affect the cardiovascular system, and some studies have linked exposure to secondhand smoke with the onset of chest pain.