13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Anti-smoking advocates release study results

Anti-smoking advocates release study results

Indianapolis - An anti-smoking group is calling on the City-County Council to ban smoking in all workplaces including bars, restaurants and bowling alleys. The group says the danger of second hand smoke is not a cloudy issue.

Employees who breathe in someone else's smoke in the workplace have their own health jeopardized every day. That's according to new air quality studies comparing a smoke-free environment to places where smoking is allowed.

The study measured air quality at ten workplaces in the city. The group Smoke-Free Indy found the indoor air pollution was 11 times higher in these venues compared to smoke-free establishments. (Read the study results.)

"It is time to enact a comprehensive public health ordinance that seeks to protect workers in Indianapolis - our patients - from the adverse health effects of secondhand smoke. It is unconscionable especially in this current economy to place our citizens in a position of having to decide between their own health and whether or not to keep their current job," said Dr. Christopher Doehring, St. Francis Hospital.

The results were announced at Crackers Comedy Club, a smoke- free venue. This comes as the City-County Council considers expanding the smoking ban to all work places in Indianapolis.

Proponents point to reduced heart attack rates in communities that implement smoking bans, as well as overall healthier work environments. But some restaurants and bars say that an expanded ban would cut into their business, and that they should be free to allow smoking if they choose to do so. There are also smokers who bristle at the idea of an expanded ban when smoking is already restricted in many venues.

Dr. Doehring said there is no safe level of secondhand smoke.

"Eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace is the most significant public health measure the city county could will address this year," said Doehring.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has set limits of 15 micrograms per cubic meter as the average annual level of PM2.5 exposure and 35 micrograms per cubic meter for 24-hour exposure. PM2.5 is the concentration of particulate matter in the air smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter. Particles of this size are released in significant amounts from burning cigarettes and are easily inhaled deep into the lungs, according to Smoke-Free Indy.

The study found that the smoking venues had rates of 164 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5 exposure, much higher than the EPA's limit of 15.

Advocates for an expanded ban say about 360 communities across the United States have enacted smoke-free workplace laws that cover all workplaces including bars and restaurants. They say such an effort is necessary because secondhand smoke is a known human carcinogen and is responsible for an estimated 50,000 deaths and other illnesses every year.