Philip Morris, one of the nation's biggest manufacturers of tobacco products, conducted a study in 1982 that revealed the dangers of passive smoking. The company prevented the results of the study from being released to the public, however, which delayed potentially life-saving information from reaching consumers according to the British medical journal 'The Lancelet.'

'Philip Morris was, contrary to its contemporary public statements, aware of the greater health risks posed by sidestream smoke from the early 1980s,' The Lancet study says.

The study was conducted in a lab in Germany which Philip Morris used to conduct studies to refute mainstream scienctific studies that showed the dangers of smoking. In the study, lab rats who were exposed to passive smoke had a significantly higher number of cancerous lesions than even those rats that were directly exposed to cigarette smoke.

The study results were discovered inside documents Philip Morris had to post on the internet as the result of a tobacco litigation settlement.

Passive smoke was declared to be hazerdous to non-smokers in 1992. As a result, smoking in offices, restuarants and even bars has been restricted to protect non-smoking patrons and employees of these establishments.

A Philip Morris spokesman said the company had not seen the study in 'The Lancet' and therefore had no comment.