First of all there is doubt about the claims of him being a life long non smoker. He is quoted to have said he hadn't touched a cigarette since leaving school and was also allegedly partial to smoking cigars socially.
The biggest problem however with the passive smoke theory is that there was no medical evidence whatsoever that it was the cause of his disease. It was actually a self diagnosis by Roy himself and in a climate where smoke is repeatedly blamed for almost every illness, and more especially for lung cancer, it is easy to see why; Roy worked in smoky clubs and theaters; nothing else could have caused it right?
Despite what the anti smoking groups would have us believe, smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer; in fact according to the World Health Organisation, there are at least 40 other known causes and a multitude of studies have shown that these other causes account for an absolute minimum of 50% of all lung cancers. Furthermore; given the fact that 6 out of 7 studies show passive smoke to be completely harmless and in the knowledge that the particles in passive smoke never come close to exceeding published safe levels, we do have a good source for much more likely causes for his cancer....
Respiratory health effects in the entertainment industry
Having spent decades in the entertainment industry Roy Castle would have been exposed to chemicals from theatrical special effects on numerous occasions. Many different chemical agents were routinely used in the past to create fog, smoke and dust effects with specific hazards now being highlighted by organisations such as The National Toxicology Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Glycol based fog fluids are known to cause difficulty in breathing, respiratory distress and respiratory tract irritation. Most Glycol products are classified as harmful by inhalation and can emit both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Glycol fogs were popular in the entertainment industry due to the fact that the fog would 'hang' for a long time in the air.
- Oil based fog fluids are now classified as human carcinogens. Inhalation of vapor or particulates can also cause aspiration pneumonia.
- Mineral oil fogs remain suspended in the air for several hours and were popular due to the effect of magnifying stage lighting
- Chlorides were often used in theatrical productions to create thick rolling smoke effects. These chlorides can cause permanent lung damage when inhaled.
- Organic dusts have also been widely used and have been shown to cause a variety of acute and chronic lung problems by particulate irritation of the respiratory tract.
- Fuller's earth was a stage prop commonly used in film, TV and stage productions to create 'dusty' effects. Fuller's earth is a term used to describe any mineral dust and generally consists of aluminum magnesium silicates; montmorillonite, attapulgite, kaolin, kaolinite, floridin, diatomite, bentonite, palygorskite, wilkonite and halloysite.
Scenes from Carry On Up The Khyber in which the cast are covered in a haze of Fuller's Earth.
Fuller's Earth
Fuller's Earth is classified as Hazardous according to the criteria of EU Annex 1. The dust from Fuller's Earth can contain various amounts of free crystalline silica which is a known human carcinogen. Palygorskite can cause fibrotic lung diseases similar to asbestosis. Acute silicosis can occur in people exposed to high concentrations of dust containing silica over a short period of time. Bentonite enables the dust to be suspended in the air for several hours and to be inhaled deeply into the lungs. Exposure can cause the inflammation of the pleura and chronic exposures may lead to chronic obstructive or restrictive lung disease.
The potential health hazards identified from inhalation of Fuller's Earth are; Irritation of eyes, nose and throat, dermatitis, bronchitis, pulmonary fibrosis (lung scarring), pulmonary infection, pneumoconiosis and lung cancer.
A Quote from Roy Castle;
"My favourite moment of 'Carry On Up the Khyber' was the famous eating scene. We all had to continue eating and chatting completely oblivious of the explosions going on all around us. As the place slowly disintegrated and debris fell into our food, we pushed it around our plates and tried to avoid actually 'eating' any. The scene continued for what seemed an eternity, and this being a filming technique where the actors never actually played to the camera, no-one had noticed the crew's practical joke. We carried on pushing the food around which now included Fuller's earth powder (not harmful but equally not appetising). Eventually we had to put some of the revolting concoction in our mouths.
Clearly Roy thought that it was "not harmful" and therefore wouldn't have considered it during his self diagnosis although he inhaled large amounts of Fuller's Earth during this scene and very probably at other times as well; in addition to that we have all the other substances that have been shown to be harmful that he would have been exposed to working in TV, Film and theater;
Video clip of the scene from 'Up The Khyber' where Roy Castle and other cast members are covered in Fuller's Earth.
With all of the hazards of lung cancer within the entertainment industry as well as 40 known causes in everyday life; the use of an entertainers self diagnosis as proof of harm from passive smoke can only be described as propaganda by a movement desperate to show a single death.
Atmospheric Effects in the Entertainment Industry: Constituents, Exposures, and Health Effects
This study by the UBC School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, found that;
For people working in TV, movie, live theater, and at music concerts, theatrical glycol and mineral fog emissions were small enough
that a large proportion of them could enter the smallest airways and air sacs of the lungs. These small aerosols can stay suspended
in air for long periods, from hours to days. The average fog aerosol exposures to movie and TV personnel was more than twice as high
as those in other productions (1.01 vs. 0.40 mg/m3)."
The study also found that entertainment industry employees had lower average lung function test results and they reported more chronic respiratory symptoms even after taking other factors into account such as age, smoking, other lung diseases and allergic conditions. The decreased lung function were associated with having been exposed to greater amounts of theatrical smoke and fog (higher levels and more days of exposure) over the previous two years. The individuals in the highest exposure categories where effects were observed were mainly employed in TV and movie production. The health study results suggest that exposure to theatrical smokes and fogs is provoking non-specific respiratory irritation and increasing the risk for chronic airflow obstruction among theatrical industry employees.