NEW REPORT FROM EPA ON SMOKING LINKED WITH BREAST CANCER.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau

A new report from the state Environmental Protection Agency links second-hand smoke to breast cancer, a controversial position that is even disputed by some anti-smoking advocates.

The report was issued as the state Air Resources Board debates whether to further restrict smoking in public and whether to classify tobacco smoke as an air pollutant similar to diesel fumes and benzene. A state scientific panel will review the EPA report on Monday and make a recommendation to the resources board.

``We're going against the prevailing idea that there is no effect of tobacco smoke exposure on breast cancer,'' said Melanie Marty, head of the section within the EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment that produced the report.

``We're the first to come out and say we think there is a relationship between exposure to second-hand smoke and breast cancer, and that relationship is particularly strong for younger women.''

The EPA's position is based on a review of recent health studies that are considered more scientifically sound than earlier work, Marty said. Other public-health agencies have generally taken a more neutral position on the possible link, based on the weaker evidence in the earlier studies.

The report analyzes a wide variety of effects of secondhand smoke, most of which are generally accepted in the scientific community. But the findings on breast cancer remain the most controversial.

A lead researcher with the American Cancer Society disagrees with the report's definitive findings on breast cancer.

``There still are substantial uncertainties about the studies on secondhand smoke and breast cancer,'' said Dr. Michael Thun, head of epidemiological research for the organization.

While research has found little evidence to link direct smoking and breast cancer, Thun said, some scientists have theorized there is a stronger connection between the disease and secondhand smoke.

Some scientists believe that an ingredient found in smoke restricts estrogen which, in turn, slows cancer growth. The ingredient is found in lower concentrations in second-hand smoke.

Regardless of whether there is a link to breast cancer, he said, there are plenty of well-established links between smoking and myriad health problems.

Two tobacco companies filed briefs opposing the EPA's findings. Spokesmen for those two companies, RJ Reynolds and Lorillard, did not return phone calls.

A spokesperson for Philip Morris said the company has not yet decided whether to take a position on the issue.

But Dr. Sanford Barsky, a breast-cancer researcher who wrote the RJ Reynolds brief, said in a phone interview that it is ``politically correct'' for public-health officials to blame smoking for nearly every health problem, even when the evidence is weak. He said there is far stronger evidence linking breast cancer to other factors, including genetics, geography, pregnancy and exposure to radiation, but not to smoking or secondhand smoke.

``I'm concerned when these public-health officials get on a little kick and start blaming smoking to be the cause of everything,'' Barsky said. ``We're going to miss the forest for the trees.

``My opinion is nobody should smoke, nobody should be exposed to secondhand smoke. But to blame those two entities for all that ails humanity is doing a disservice to the real links that if discovered would eradicate the disease.''

Barsky, who until late last year studied breast cancer at UCLA, is now chair of the Department of Pathology in the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. Last year, while he was a researcher and professor at UCLA, he was hired by RJ Reynolds to write a rebuttal to the report, but says he has held that view for a long time.

The report is part of a larger effort to decide whether the Air Resources Board should approve further restrictions on smoking.

On Monday, a scientific review panel, comprised of independent scientists who analyzed the EPA report, will decide whether to add tobacco smoke to a list of toxic air contaminants that it regulates, such as diesel particular matter, benzene and chromium. The board has the authority to pass restrictions without legislative approval.

``We're looking at listing environmental tobacco smoke as a toxic air contaminant in the state of California,'' said Gennet Paauwe, spokeswoman for the state Air Resources Board. ``What that means is once the toxic is listed. ... by law we have to go into a plan to reduce that toxic as much as feasible.''

Other contaminants similarly listed include chromium, benzene and diesel particulate matter, she said.

Diesel was the most recently added item on the list, and it has taken about five years to come up with the regulations, she said. The new regulations on diesel include reducing truck idling and lowering sulfur content in fuel.

There also may be some dispute over how much authority the board has to restrict smoking, she said. While the board has authority over outdoor pollution, it does not have authority over indoor pollution, so certain rules could be subject to dispute.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com