New Study: Smoke-free Cities Have Lower Indoor Air Pollution

Newsday

Cities with indoor smoking bans have dramatically lower indoor air pollution than cities that allow patrons to light up in bars and restaurants, according to a study released Thursday. Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo conducted air quality tests in 53 venues in seven major U.S. cities, and found that indoor air pollution was an average of 82 percent lower in smoke-free cities.

The results appear in line with several smaller studies that showed a decrease in air pollution in cities that prohibit indoor smoking.

The latest study was partly financed by grants from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an anti-smoking group.

Of the seven cities studied, those that enforced a smoking ban _ New York City, Buffalo and Los Angeles _ had lower levels of indoor air pollution than cities that permitted smoking, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and Hoboken, N.J., the study found.

New York City had the lowest concentration of indoor pollutants of all the cities at 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Buffalo was second followed by Los Angeles. Compliance of the smoking ban was observed in all smoke-free venues except for three places in Los Angeles where smoking was observed, the study found.

Washington, D.C. had the highest levels of indoor air pollution at 392 micrograms per cubic meter of air followed by Baltimore, Philadelphia and Hoboken. The differences can be attributed to the number of smokers at a given time and how well the ventilation system displaces the air, Hyland said.

The next step is to determine how increased secondhand smoke affects the overall health of bar and restaurant workers, Hyland said. Last year, researchers in Montana reported that heart attacks in Helena had dropped sharply during the first two months its smoking ban was in effect.

Some bars and restaurants owners in New York have been critical of the statewide smoking ban that went into effect last summer. The New York State Health Department and local health departments have since granted waivers to establishments that can prove they suffered financial hardship under the ban.