Brussels, 21/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - According to the report “Lifting the Smokescreen: 10 reasons for a smoke-free Europe” published on 21 March during a conference attended by British Liberal Democrat Liz Lynne and Cypriot Adamos Adamou from the GUE, as well as Professors Konrad Jamrozik (University of Queensland), author of the report and John Britton (Nottingham University), more than 79,000 adults die of the effects of passive smoking every year in the 25 Member States of the EU. The report underlines that passive smoking is worse than directly inhaling smoke. This is explained by the fact that a cigarette being held in the hand or smouldering in an ashtray burns at a lower temperature and releases smoke that is more toxic. Smoke from cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals. 50 of these are carcinogens and more than a 100 are chemical poisons, underlines the “Smoke free Partnership, which regroups the European Respiratory Society, Cancer Research UK and the Institut national du Cancer in France. (The report is available on the internet at the following address: http://www.ersnet.org ).