NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A research report from Europe concludes that women who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than those who live with a smoking spouse.

Although people who lived with a smoker had almost twice the risk of lung cancer as those without a puffing partner, the risk of lung cancer increased almost threefold for people who worked with smokers compared with those who worked in a smoke-free environment.

Previous studies have shown that people who inhale smoke produced by their smoking neighbors have a higher than average risk of lung cancer, and the current study findings support past results, according to study author Dr. Michaela Kreuzer of the Institute of Radiation Hygiene in Neuherberg, Germany.

People "should avoid passive smoke exposure at home or at public places," Kreuzer told Reuters Health. "They should avoid working for many years in high-risk occupations and industries and also those with suspected lung (cancer-causing agents)," such as those used in the wood or printing industry.

The researchers base their findings on interviews with 234 women who had been diagnosed with lung cancer and 535 of their cancer-free peers about exposure to passive cigarette smoke at home and at work. None of the women reported having smoked more than 400 cigarettes in their lifetime, and only a few said they were former, light smokers.

The investigators found that women who said they had worked in smoke-filled environments were almost three times as likely as those whose workplaces were smoke-free to develop lung cancer. In contrast, women whose spouses smoked appeared to be less than twice as likely as those who lived with non-puffing partners to be diagnosed with the disease.

In addition, Kreuzer and colleagues found that women who worked for more than 10 years in an occupation that involved use of substances that have been linked to lung cancer were twice as likely as women employed in other occupations to develop the disease.

In terms of why exposure to smoke at work may be worse for people than exposure to smoke at home, the researcher added that the study did not measure how many smokers were present at work, only how much time study participants spent in a smoke-filled workplace.

"It is possible that at work there are more smokers, while at home there may be only one person who smokes," Kreuzer said.

Kreuzer noted that the risks of cancer in women from home and workplace tobacco exposure are probably equally applicable to men.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer 2002;100:706-713.