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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Study: Boston Smoking Ban Reduces Cancer-Causing Air Pollution by 95% [12/10-3]
Excerpts from: Smoking ban a boon for bar workers
By Kay Lazar
The Boston Herald [12/10/03]
Boston bar workers are literally breathing easier according to a new study that finds the city's workplace smoking ban has reduced levels of cancer-causing air pollutants in pubs by up to 95 percent.
The survey, to be released today in Boston at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health, found that before the city adopted the indoor smoking ban in May, bar workers were being exposed to four times the level of second-hand smoke allowed by federal regulations.
The study, commissioned by the Massachusetts Coalition for a Health Future, measured air quality at six Boston bars in April and again in October after the ban had been in place about six months.
The bottom line is that nearly all of the indoor pollution was due to second-hand smoke, and the risk of disease from air pollution has been lowered 90 to 95 percent,'' said study author James Repace, a physicist and visiting professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.
The Boston Public Health Commission reports a 98 percent compliance rate with the smoking ban, issuing just 27 tickets - 12 to bars or restaurants - since it went into effect.
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