Substitute Bill 31-14 Smoke Free Ordinance

Home Browse Search

Smokefree Air Ordinance of 2014 — Substitute Bill No. 31 -14 Page 2 The Public Health Service's National Toxicology Program (NTP) has listed secondhand smoke as a known carcinogen. (Environmental Health Information Service (EHIS), "Environmental tobacco smoke: first listed in the Ninth Report on Carcinogens," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Public Health Service, NTP, 2000; reaffirmed by the NTP in subsequent reports on carcinogens, 2003, 2005.) Based on a finding by the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2005, the California Air Resources Board has determined that secondhand smoke is a toxic air contaminant, finding that exposure to secondhand smoke has serious health effects, including low birth- weight babies; sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); increased respiratory infections in children; asthma in children and adults; lung cancer, sinus cancer, and breast cancer in younger, premenopausal women; heart disease; and death. (California Air Resources Board (ARB), "Appendix II Findings of the Scientific Review Panel: Findings of the Scientific Review Panel on Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant as adopted at the Panel's June 24, 2005 Meeting," California Air Resources Board (ARB), September 12, 2005.) There is indisputable evidence that implementing 100% smoke -free environments is the only effective way to protect the population from the harmful effects of exposure to secondhand smoke. (World Health Organization (WHO), "Protection from exposure to secondhand smoke: policy recommendations," World Health Organization (WHO), 2007.) In reviewing 11 studies concluding that communities see an immediate reduction in heart attack admissions after the implementation of comprehensive smokefree laws, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies concluded that data consistently demonstrate that secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks and that smokefree laws reduce heart attacks. (Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, Committee on Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Acute Coronary Events, "Secondhand smoke exposure and cardiovascular effects: making sense of the evidence," Washington, DC: National Academies Press, October 2009.) A significant amount of secondhand smoke exposure occurs in the workplace. Employees who work in smoke - filled businesses suffer a 25 -50% higher risk of heart attack and higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as increased acute respiratory disease and measurable decrease in lung function. (Pitsavos, C.; Panagiotakos, D.B.; Chrysohoou, C.; Skoumas, J.; Tzioumis, K.; Stefanadis, C.; Toutouzas, P., "Association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and the development of acute coronary syndromes: the CARDI02000 case - control study," Tobacco Control 11(3): 220 -225, September 2002.) Studies measuring cotinine (metabolized nicotine) and NNAL (metabolized nitrosamine NNK, a tobacco - specific carcinogen linked to lung cancer) in hospitality workers find dramatic reductions in the levels of these biomarkers after a smokefree law takes effect. Average cotinine levels of New York City restaurant and bar workers decreased by 85% after the city's smokefree law went into effect. (fn.a.], "The State of Smoke -Free New York City: A One Year Review," New York City Department of Finance, New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, New York City Department of Small Business Services, New York City Economic