Report: Big Tobacco Conspires to Prevent Smoke-Free Bars and Restaurants
[08/14-3]
Excerpts from: Report Details Tobacco Industry Efforts Against Smoke-Free
Places
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
[05/29/03]
The tobacco industry has conspired to prevent bars and restaurants from becoming
smoke-free, says new research.
Cigarette manufacturers gave money to hotel and restaurant associations to
stifle discussion about smoke-free premises and they also preyed on fears that
a no-smoking policy would hurt profits, say researchers from the University
of California at San Francisco who analyzed tobacco industry documents
The campaign began in the 1970s, and intensified in the face of mounting evidence
of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. Worse yet, the strategy is ongoing,
says the report, which appears today in the June issue of Tobacco Control.
The industry documents reveal that tobacco manufacturers gave donations to more
than 65 hospitality groups in the United States and to the International Association
of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes, active mainly in Europe.
Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley analyzed saliva samples
from 42 non-smoking restaurant and bar employees of businesses that permit smoking
or have designated smoking sections. They were compared to 50 non-smoking government
workers in smoke-free workplaces.
The researchers collected saliva samples at the start and end of the working
day. They measured changes in salivary cotinine levels, which reflect the amount
of nicotine absorbed by the body.
The employees exposed to smoke had significantly greater increases in their
salivary cotinine by the end of the working day, compared to those who worked
in a smoke-free setting.
Workers in premises with unrestricted smoking also reported higher prevalence
of respiratory and irritation symptoms than those in smoke-free workplaces, the
study says.
More information:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a host of information on secondhand
smoke.
This information is presented as a public service by:
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
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