NEWS WIRE EXTERNALITIES Secondhand Smoke Kills More Than 600,000 People a Year: Study Secondhand smoke globally kills more than 600,000 people each year, accounting for 1 percent of all deaths worldwide, according to a new study. Researchers estimate that "passive smoking" causes about 379,000 deaths from heart disease, per year, worldwide. Passive smoking also kills 165,000 people each year due to lower respiratory disease, 36,900 deaths from asthma, and 21,400 deaths from lung cancer. Children account for about 165,000 of the deaths. Forty percent of children and 30 percent of adults regularly breathe in secondhand smoke. Source: World Health Organization How much global output is lost annually as a result of adult deaths from secondhand smoke if the average adult produces a. $10,000 of output per year? billion b. $15,000 of output per year? billion