From Deborah Arnott,
Your editorial and article highlight the dangers of exaggerating the health impact of exposure to second-hand smoke (10 November, p 3 and p 8). ASH (UK) endorses your conclusion that bad science can never be justified. ASH, unlike some organisations, has never asserted that a single 30-minute exposure to second-hand smoke is enough to trigger a heart attack, and we are not aware of any UK health advocates who have done so. What we do say, based on a growing body of evidence, is that repeated exposure to second-hand smoke can damage coronary arteries, which in turn can trigger heart disease.
As a matter of course, we aim to ensure that our work is evidence-based and we would never deliberately distort science to justify a particular campaign. The evidence of the harm to non-smokers exposed to tobacco smoke is so robust that there is no need to exaggerate it to justify tobacco control measures.
• ASH (UK) has no connection with ASH (US), which is mentioned in our article.
London, UK
