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Smokefree Air Ordinance of 2014
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<br />The Public Health Service's National Toxicology Program (NTP) has listed secondhand
<br />smoke as a known carcinogen. (Environmental Health Information Service (EHIS),
<br />"Environmental tobacco smoke: first listed in the Ninth Report on Carcinogens," U.S.
<br />Department of Health andHuman Services (DHHS), Public Health Service, NTP, 2000;
<br />reaffirmed by the NTP in subsequent reports on carcinogens, 2003, 2005.)
<br />Based on a finding by the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2005, the
<br />California Air Resources Board has determined that secondhand smoke is a toxic air
<br />contaminant, finding that exposure to secondhand smoke has serious health effects, including
<br />low birth- weight babies; sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); increased respiratory infections
<br />in children; asthma in children and adults; lung cancer, sinus cancer, and breast cancer in
<br />younger, premenopausal women; heart disease; and death. (California Air Resources Board
<br />(ARB), "Appendix II Findings of the Scientific Review Panel: Findings of the Scientific Review
<br />Panel on Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant
<br />as adopted at the Panel's June 24, 2005 Meeting," California Air Resources Board (ARB),
<br />September 12, 2005.)
<br />There is indisputable evidence that implementing 100% smoke -free environments is the
<br />only effective way to protect the population from the harmful effects of exposure to secondhand
<br />smoke. (World Health Organization (WHO), "Protection from exposure to secondhand smoke:
<br />policy recommendations," World Health Organization (WHO), 2007.)
<br />In reviewing 11 studies concluding that communities see an immediate reduction in heart attack
<br />admissions after the implementation of comprehensive smokefree laws, the Institute of Medicine
<br />of the National Academies concluded that data consistently demonstrate that secondhand smoke
<br />exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks and that smokefree laws
<br />reduce heart attacks. (Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, Board on
<br />Population Health and Public Health Practice, Committee on Secondhand Smoke Exposure and
<br />Acute Coronary Events, "Secondhand smoke exposure and cardiovascular effects: making sense
<br />of the evidence," Washington, DC: National Academies Press, October 2009.)
<br />A significant amount of secondhand smoke exposure occurs in the workplace. Employees who
<br />work in smoke -filled businesses suffer a 25 -50% higher risk of heart attack and higher rates of
<br />death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as increased acute respiratory disease and
<br />measurable decrease in lung function. (Pitsavos, C.; Panagiotakos, D.B.; Chrysohoou, C.;
<br />Skoumas, J.; Tzioumis, K.; Stefanadis, C.; Toutouzas, P., "Association between exposure to
<br />environmental tobacco smoke and the development of acute coronary syndromes: the
<br />CARDI02000 case - control study," Tobacco Control 11(3): 220 -225, September 2002.)
<br />Studies measuring cotinine (metabolized nicotine) and NNAL (metabolized nitrosamine NNK, a
<br />tobacco- specific carcinogen linked to lung cancer) in hospitality workers find dramatic
<br />reductions in the levels of these biomarkers after a smokefree law takes effect. Average cotinine
<br />levels of New York City restaurant and bar workers decreased by 85% after the city's smokefree
<br />law went into effect. ([n.a.], "The State of Smoke -Free New York City: A One Year Review,"
<br />New York City Department of Finance, New York City Department of Health & Mental
<br />Hygiene, New York City Department of Small Business Services, New York City Economic
<br />Development Corporation, March 2004). After the implementation of Ontario, Canada's
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