Exposure to second hand smoke has fallen by 95% for workers in bars, restaurants and clubs since the smoking ban was introduced in England in July.
Non-smoking hospitality workers also had four times less cotinine - a by-product of nicotine and indicator of tobacco smoke exposure - in their saliva in August than they had in June, according to the first research on the health impact of the ban, which was presented yesterday to the National Cancer Research Institute Conference in Birmingham.
Researchers from the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre in Warwick, funded by Cancer Research UK, calculated that before the legislation employees in the hospitality industry were exposed to the equivalent of 190 cigarettes a year. This dropped to around 44 cigarettes after the smoking ban was introduced.
The researchers visited 59 businesses across England in June and August - including bars, pubs, clubs, bingo halls, betting shops, cafes and private members clubs. The owner, four employees and four customers were recruited and their exposure to smoke, attitudes and behaviours were assessed.
Air quality in almost 40 venues was also monitored and levels of "small particles" in the air contained in cigarette smoke were found to have dropped from near hazardous levels in June to levels that are similar to the quality of air outdoors in August.
Hilary Wareing, co-director of the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre, said: "The improvements in air quality and reduction in cotinine levels were even better than we could have imagined. This study proves beyond doubt that smokefree workplaces are helping to improve the health of the nation´s hospitality workers."
Prior to the legislation, 84% of employees thought second hand smoke at work put their health at risk but one month after the ban just over half the employees believed their health was better as a result of the law.
Elspeth Lee, senior tobacco control manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "Although we won´t see a reduction in cancer rates for some years to come, the short term health gains we have seen here are very encouraging."
The ban also appeared to have had little impact on business. In June, over half of business owners expected the law to have a negative effect on their trade, but in August 70% said it had had a positive effect or no impact on their trade.
Source:
http://www.onmedica.net/... |
