averaged 20 times those in the outdoors and were 4.6 times higher than the level permissible under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The hospitality workers were exposed to RSP levels 2.6 times higher than those Repace measured on diesel-exhaust polluted streets in Boston and on Interstate-95 in Delaware. Carcinogenic PPAH levels pre-ban were five times higher than outdoor levels in Wilmington, and exceeded those measured at an I-95 tollbooth at the heavily trafficked Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.

"Before the ban, secondhand smoke contributed 90% to 95% of the RSP air pollution in the studied venues, and 85% to 95% of the carcinogenic PPAH," says Repace. "This demonstrates conclusively that ventilation does not control the life-threatening pollutants inherent to a smoking environment. Only a smoke-free workplace law can protect the health of these workers."

Few states have taken action to protect hospitality workers; only 14% of states have laws banning smoking in restaurants, bars, casinos and all other workplaces.

According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, people exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for prolonged periods can develop cancer. Ten carcinogenic particulate phase PAHs have been identified in tobacco smoke, representing one-sixth of all known tobacco smoke carcinogens.

Repace has conducted research on indoor air pollution from secondhand smoke for 28 years, and has published more than 60 scientific papers on the topic. Among his major accomplishments, in 1979 he initiated the Environmental Protection Agency's policy interest in indoor air pollution. In 1980 he identified secondhand smoke as a major source of indoor air pollution in a groundbreaking paper that received international scientific attention. Five years later, he estimated that 5,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the U.S. were caused by passive smoking, in a seminal
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Contact: Dennis Tartaglia
212-481-7000
M Booth & Associates
8-Sep-2004

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