Public-health fanatics in the government would sound more believable if they did not make sweeping pronouncements that everybody knows from experience to be exaggerated.

As we reported Thursday, there’s been a sharp drop in the number of American nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke, from more than 80 percent 20 years ago to 46 percent in a new study. That’s good news from the angle of clean air. But the federal health police are not satisfied. “It’s still high,” an official said. “There is no safe level of exposure.”

Everybody knows people who have smoked and been exposed to second-hand smoke for part of their lives and who are still kicking in their 70s and 80s, even their 90s.

So at the very least, we should avoid blanket statements such as “There is no safe level” and, instead, be cautious and say that while tobacco smoke is certainly harmful, it does not seem to harm all people exposed to it.

That would not sound quite as dramatic, but it would be true. (hh)