New Air Quality Study Marks Smoke Free Workplace Act Anniversary
COLUMBUS, Ohio--(Business Wire)--Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation (OTPF) reports that a new study
has given Ohioans yet another reason to celebrate the Smoke Free
Workplace Act which made all workplaces, including bars and
restaurants, smoke free. The study coincides with the one-year
anniversary of the law going into effect.
Commissioned by the OTPF, the Ohio Air Monitoring Study compared
the indoor air quality of 29 bars and restaurants in Ohio communities
both before and after the comprehensive smoke free law was in place.
Before the Smoke Free Workplace Act, employees in sampled locations
were exposed to unhealthy air according to U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) standards which measures the fine particle
pollution released in significant amounts from burning tobacco.
The Ohio Air Monitoring Study concluded that Ohioans now work in
environments with safe levels of fine particle air pollution. The
average level of indoor air pollution declined 94 percent after the
venues went smoke free as a result of the Smoke Free Workplace Act. In
addition, compliance with the law in the 29 places visited was 100
percent with no smoking observed.
"The Smoke Free Workplace Act has been a resounding success for
Ohio," said Mike Renner, Executive Director of the Ohio Tobacco
Prevention Foundation (OTPF). "The Smoke Free Workplace Act is about
the fundamental right we all have to breathe clean air in our
workplace and when we visit someone else's workplace. The Ohio Air
Monitoring Study is a reminder that voters did the right thing, and
they should be applauded for their support of this critical public
health policy."
Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, of which at
least 250 are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. According to the 2006
Surgeon General's Report, there is no safe level of exposure to
secondhand smoke and no ventilation system is designed to remove all
the poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke.
The Ohio Air Monitoring Study was conducted by the nationally
recognized Roswell Park Cancer Institute located in Buffalo, New York.
Roswell Park has conducted these studies all over the world in urban,
suburban and rural communities. Roswell Park was America's first
cancer center and has taken a leadership role in setting standards for
cancer care, research and education.
For a complete copy of the Ohio Air Monitoring Study, please visit
OTPF's secondhand smoke section of their website.
About the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation
The Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation (OTPF) was created by the
Ohio General Assembly in 2000 and is funded with monies secured from
the national Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) by tobacco companies.
OTPF's mission is to reduce and prevent tobacco use by Ohioans. Its
vision is to be the most effective tobacco-control agency in the U.S.,
while creating a tobacco-free Ohio. OTPF programs include the
distribution of community grants, the operation of the Ohio Tobacco
QUIT LINE at 800-QUIT-NOW, and stand, Ohio's tobacco use
counter-marketing campaign. For more information on OTPF, go to
www.otpf.org. Or please visit OTPF's youth Web site, stand or OTPF's
QUIT LINE Web site.
Links:
http://www.otpf.org/
http://www.otpf.org/resources/secondhandsmoke.aspx
http://www.standonline.org/
http://www.ohioquits.com/
Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation
Pam Knox, 614-728-2887
PKnox@otpf.org
Copyright Business Wire 2007
