SECONDHAND CIGARETTE SMOKE AFFECTS FETUSES

Secondhand cigarette smoke exposes unborn babies to cancer-causing
chemicals,researchers said Monday.

Several studies add to evidence that cancer-causing agents in the
smoke can get through the placenta, which normally protects a fetus
from toxins.

"Exposure in very early years, including in the fetus, could well be
more harmful than exposure as an adult," Dr. Adi Gazdar of the
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said at a
news conference.

Gazdar reviewed several studies being presented at the annual meeting
of the American Association of Cancer Research in Philadelphia.