Smoking Ban Dramatically Reduces Air Pollution in Irish Pubs
A national workplace ban on smoking in Ireland resulted in an 83
percent reduction in air pollution in pubs, an 80 percent decrease
in airborne carcinogens for patrons and staff, and an improvement
in the respiratory health of bar workers, according to a one-year
follow-up study.
The research appears in the second issue for April 2007 of the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,
published by the American Thoracic Society.
Luke Clancy, M.D., B.Sc., Director of the Research Institute for
a Tobacco Free Society in Dublin, and four associates examined the
effect of the world's first national smoking ban on environmental
tobacco smoke exposure in 42 Dublin pubs and among 73 male bar
staff members who received pre- and post-ban lung function tests.
Participants were tested prior to the March 29, 2004 national
smoking ban, and again one-year later.
Among the barworkers, the self-reported workplace exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke was over 40 hours per week pre-ban, but
dropped to about 25 minutes post-ban, showing a 99 percent decrease
in exposure.
Post-ban tests also demonstrated an 83 percent reduction in tiny
particulate matter in bar air.
"These results confirm that the approach of a total ban on
smoking in the workplace is successful in reducing the exposure of
workers to particles," said Dr. Clancy. "We have previously shown
that a reduction of particle levels in ambient air resulted in
marked health benefits in terms of respiratory and cardiovascular
mortality."
According to the investigators, the volatile hydrocarbon benzene
was used as a marker for carcinogenic substances because cigarette
smoke is a well-known source. They noted that there was an 80.2
percent reduction in benzene concentrations in pubs after the ban,
having already established the ambient outdoor levels for benzene
in Dublin.
Among the bar staff, pulmonary function tests improved
dramatically in non-smoking barmen post-ban; the workers also
showed reductions in self-reported health symptoms. In addition,
the non-smoking employees demonstrated significant improvements in
cough and phlegm production. Moreover, sensory irritant symptoms
improved in all subgroups after the ban, although the smoking
workers benefited less.
In an editorial on the research in the same issue of the
journal, Fiona Godfrey, B.A., L.L.M. (Master of Laws), European
Union Policy Advisor at the European Respiratory Society in
Brussels, wrote:
"The article by Drs. Clancy and colleagues adds to the evidence
from other studies that what smoke-free advocates have said all
along is true: Comprehensive smoking bans in bars dramatically
reduce the levels of fine-particulate matter, chemicals and gases
in the air and improve bar workers' health."
If all European countries were to adopt a similar policy, she
estimates that between 5 to 10 million premature deaths from
smoking could be prevented over the next generation.
Although Dr. Godfrey admits that the impact of the Irish ban has
been "enormous," she also highlights several "important caveat[s]"
to the study's findings.
While the health of ex- and non-smoking barmen improved
significantly, the respiratory health of smokers continued to
decline, with the exception of irritant sensitivity.
"Given the known health effects of secondhand smoke exposure and
the reported reduction in mean exposure from 40.5 hours pre-ban to
0.42 hours post-ban, this is a disappointing finding, especially
since the reported exposure outside the workplace also decreased by
42 percent," she said.
She also noted that because the study relied on volunteers, it
only involved men. Given the lack of sex-specific studies on women
and occupational disease and evidence that secondhand smoke
exposure levels are often underestimated in non-smoking women, she
calls the absence of female subjects "unfortunate, although
unavoidable."
"The significant improvement in the health of the nonsmoking bar
workers is very welcome, but the findings of the study underline we
still need to do much more to help smokers quit and enable them to
share the benefits of smoke-free policies," Dr. Godfrey
continued.
Contact for study: Luke Clancy, M.D., B.Sc.,
Director of the General Research Institute for a Tobacco Free
Society, The Digital Depot, Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland
Phone: +35 386 836 4337
E-mail: lclancy@tri.ie
Contact for editorial: Fiona Godfrey, B.A.,
L.L.M., EU Policy Advisor, European Respiratory Society, 39-41 rue
d'Arlon, Brussels, B-1000, Belgium
Phone: + 35 2 2668 3301
E-mail: Fiona.godfrey@ersnet.org