Healthy passive cigarette smokers have increased pulmonary alveolar permeability.

Question Does passive smoking have a measurable effect on lung function in otherwise healthy subjects? There is current interest concerning passive smoking but no objective evidence showing that it has any impact on lung function. Methods The pulmonary clearance rate of 99mTc-DTPA was measured in 21 healthy volunteers after inhalation as a radio-aerosol and compared between healthy cigarette smokers, passive smokers and non-smokers. All volunteers had normal lung function. Results Clearance half-times in healthy passive smokers (n=5) were longer than in healthy smokers (n=6) but clearly shorter compared with healthy non-smokers (n=10) with respective mean values of 45.2 (SD 8.3), 24.3 (8.6) and 80.3 (20) min. Conclusion Passive smoking has a functional impact on the lung blood/gas barrier.