Casino workers and second hand smoke
Despite all the smoking bans in place, there are still some places, such as casinos, where workers are still consistently exposed to second hand smoke.
A new study, funded by the Flight Attendent Medical Institute, finds that casino workers face higher risks of heart disease and lung disease because a smoke filled work environment.
In the study, the air quality in three Pennsylvania casinos was tested for levels of two indicators of tobacco smoke – cancer-causing chemicals and particles small enough to inhale.
At the same time, eight volunteers, each of whom spent four hours in the casinos, provided urine samples which were measured for levels of a tobacco smoke byproduct.
Measuring the air quality revealed that the tobacco smoke indicators inside the casino was four to six times higher than outside.
And testing the volunteer’s urine samples showed a 10 fold increase in tobacco smoke byproduct levels in the urine.
All in all, a fairly clear indication that the air that you breathe in casinos is full of smoke.
Seems to me it might be time for casinos to follow the lead of restaurants and bars and ban smoking altogether.
It works pretty good here in New Zealand. And there doesn’t seem to be any evidence it’s reduced the number of people visiting the casino. If anything, it might have actually increased the number of visitors.
Illinois casino workers are enjoying all the smokerfree air they want since they got laid off. Some of them had to go to the rapidly expaning casinos in Indiana for jobs.
Since these bans are all about health, they should be required to put the Chantix and Zyban warning on all of the government issued “No smoking” signs to prevent suicides and lawsuits by forcefully coercing residents into using a dangerous product.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fda-orders-harsher-warnings-on-zyban-chantix-2009711538360
I agree, casinos should follow suit and ban smoking if not for employees sake, then for casino patrons’ sake. If they don’t, the ban should be made mandatory for all casinos. Bars and restaurants have argued that they lose customers this way, but when it comes to someone’s health, precautions like this must be taken.