Health Effects of Involuntary Smoking

To the Editor: In their timely article (Dec. 1 issue),¹ Fielding and Phenow reviewed extensive evidence concerning the health effects of involuntary smoking. They failed to note, however, that the fetus is also affected adversely by passive smoke. A significant effect of paternal smoking on birth weight has recently been shown, with control for the effect of maternal smoking.^{2 3 4 5} Furthermore, passive smoking during pregnancy has been found to double a nonsmoker's risk of having a low-birth-weight infant.^5,6 Paternal smoking has also been found to be significantly related to an increase in perinatal mortality and to the incidence of severe congenital. No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.