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Study: Air more toxic in smoky Ore. bars
by Kristina Brenneman, KGW News Channel 21
Study: Air more toxic in smoky Ore. bars
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Posted: 12:54 PM, May. 31, 2006
By Kristina Brenneman, KGW.com
The air pollution levels inside Oregon bars where customers light up is six times higher than in bars that are smokefree, according to a newly released study from the American Cancer Society.
kgw.com Graphic
And, the levels of unhealthy air were found to be three times greater than air quality standards considered safe by the U.S. EPA.
"This study is really powerful because it actually shows us what is in the air we breathe," said Tabitha Engle, with the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Oregon. "So this is what we found in the smoking bars."
More than 800 Oregonians die from secondhand smoke each year.
The study, done in conjunction with the Oregon Department of Human Services, measured the indoor air quality of 107 randomly-selected bars and restaurant/bar combinations in 12 Oregon cities. The cities were Bend, Coos Bay, Corvallis, Eugene, Hillsboro, Hood River, Medford, Oregon City, Pendleton, Portland, Salem and Springfield.
Thirty-six percent of the businesses were smoke-free; 69 venues were not smoke-free.
Health care advocates plan to use the study to lobby for a legislative ban on smoking inside bars. Oregon has banned smoking in public places, except for bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls, tobacco retail shops and bars located within restaurants.
"We want to create a law that makes workplaces 100 percent smoke-free," Engle said, adding that Gov. Ted Kulongoski "is very supportive of that type of legislation."
Even 30 minutes of exposure, if you are a person with sensitivity to smoke or heart problems, can be harmful, she said. "But we are definitely focused on the people who have to work in these environments. People in offices have right to breathe clean air and people in bars don't have that right."
Also Online
Read the Air Monitoring Report
Both California and Washington voters passed measures banning smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars.
The study reemphasizes ongoing concerns about the serious health hazards of secondhand smoke, which contains more than 60 cancer-causing agents, including arsenic, lead and formaldehyde.
Studies show that even 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can be harmful.
More than 35,000 people work in the hospitality industry and are not protected by the state's Indoor Clean Air Act are particularly at risk.
Oregon’s smokefree workplace law does not cover bars, bars within restaurants, bingo halls and bowling alleys.
Bar and restaurant/bar combo workers exposed to secondhand smoke are 50 percent more likely to get lung cancer than other workers, according to a study by the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Oregon.
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