Chile enacted national legislation restricting smoking in public places and workplaces in 2007. But research indicates that the country's smoking ban provides no protection from secondhand smoke exposure to employees and customers in bars and restaurants because the law is not comprehensive. The partial smoking ban allows bars and restaurants to decide whether or not they will be smoke-free or to designate smoking and non-smoking areas.
There is urgent need to replace the current legislation with a comprehensive anti-smoking law that fully protects all people and workers from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in public places, according to a study that compared levels of secondhand smoke exposure in bars and restaurants in Santiago, Chile, before and after the implementation of the 2007 smoking ban. The study appears in the December 2010 issue of the journal Tobacco Control.
"Comprehensive smoke-free legislation is the best policy and the international standard to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke in indoor public places and workplaces," the study said.
Secondhand Smoke Exposure Lowest in Completely Smoke-free Venues
The study found air nicotine concentrations, which measured the level of passive smoke, were highest in bars and restaurants that allowed smoking, followed by smoking areas in venues with designated smoking areas, and non-smoking areas in these same mixed venues. Air nicotine concentrations were lowest in bars and restaurants that were completely smoke-free.
Compared to 2002, marked reductions in air nicotine concentrations (85 percent reduction or higher) in 2008 were only observed in venues that voluntarily adopted a smoke-free policy.
Air nicotine concentrations were 56 times higher in smoking venues compared to smoke-free venues. In bars and restaurants with designated smoking areas, air nicotine concentrations in non-smoking areas were three times higher than in smoke-free restaurants. This was caused "possibly through contamination from the smoking areas, supporting the conclusion that the barrier systems implemented were insufficient to eliminate exposure to tobacco smoke," the study said.
(Weak Anti-Smoking Laws Expose Chinese Workers to Secondhand Smoke discusses the importance of complete smoking bans to protect workers from the harms of environmental tobacco smoke.)
Total Smoking Bans Are More Effective and Easier to Implement
Implementing voluntary smoke-free policies in the presence of partial smoking bans is a challenge, the study said. In restaurants with voluntary smoking bans, owners reported that some customers still smoked inside.
Employees working in bars and restaurants with designated smoking areas were exposed to levels of secondhand smoke as high as those measured in venues where smoking was allowed.Bars and restaurants with designated smoking and non-smoking areas used advanced ventilation technology to reduce environmental tobacco smoke. But the study found that these advanced ventilation measures were unable to reduce secondhand tobacco smoke and protect employees and customers from elevated risk of cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. In fact, ventilations systems made no difference in presence of air nicotine concentrations.
In addition, no official enforcement mechanisms and sanctions are available for venues that voluntarily prohibit smoking.
(Smoking Ban in Bars, Restaurants Improved Health in Argentina demonstrates how a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance in Neuquén, Argentina protected the health of hospitality workers.)
(Local Anti-smoking Policies Withstand Tobacco Industry Challenges shows how smoking bans may be easier to implement and enforce at the local rather than national level.)
Importance of Smoke-free Legislation
The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and its implementation guidelines have clearly indicated that comprehensive smoke-free legislation eliminating tobacco smoking in all indoor public places and workplaces must be implemented to protect all people from the health effects of secondhand smoke. Chile ratified the FCTC in 2005.
Comprehensive smoke-free legislation protects non-smokers from the health consequences of secondhand smoke, according to the study. Short-term benefits of smoke-free legislations include important reductions in hospital admissions for acute coronary events and improvements in respiratory health.
Additionally, anti-smoking legislation motivates smokers to quit and reduce the number of people initiating smoking. Comprehensive smoke-free legislations, moreover, cause no economic damage to the hospitality sector and are largely supported by most populations worldwide.
Reference:
- Erazo M, Iglesias V, Droppelmann A, et al. Secondhand tobacco smoke in bars and restaurants in Santiago, Chile: evaluation of partial smoking ban legislation in public places. Tobacco Control 2010; 19: 469-474.
Juan Ramos - Juan Ramos is a health communication specialist based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He has worked in the non-profit sector for more than ...
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