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Smokefree Air Ordinance of 2014- Substitute Bill No. 31 -14
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<br />Development Corporation, March 2004). After the implementation of Ontario, Canada's
<br />Smokefree Indoor Air Law, levels of NNAL were reduced by 52% in nonsmoking casino
<br />employees and cotinine levels fell by 98 %. (Geoffrey T. Fong, et. al., "The Impact of the Smoke -
<br />Free Ontario Act on Air Quality and Biomarkers of Exposure in Casinos: A Quasi - Experimental
<br />Study," Ontario Tobacco Control Conference, Niagara Falls, Ontario, December 2, 2006.)
<br />Following a Health Hazard Evaluation of Las Vegas casino employees' secondhand smoke
<br />exposure in the workplace, which included indoor air quality tests and biomarker assessments,
<br />the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health ( NIOSH) concluded that the casino
<br />employees are exposed to dangerous levels of secondhand smoke at work and that their bodies
<br />absorb high levels of tobacco - specific chemicals NNK and cotinine during work shifts. NIOSH
<br />also concluded that the "best means of eliminating workplace exposure to [secondhand smoke] is
<br />to ban all smoking in the casinos." (Health hazard evaluation report: environmental and
<br />biological assessment of environmental tobacco smoke exposure among casino dealers, Las
<br />Vegas, NV. By Achutan C, West C, Mueller C, Boudreau Y, Mead K. Cincinnati, OH: U.S.
<br />Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
<br />National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH HETA No. 2005 -0076 and 2005-
<br />0201 -3080, May 2009.)
<br />Secondhand smoke is particularly hazardous to elderly people, individuals with
<br />cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function, including asthmatics
<br />and those with obstructive airway disease. (California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal
<br />EPA), "Health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke ", Tobacco Control 6(4): 346-
<br />353, Winter, 1997.) The Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires that disabled persons
<br />have access to public places and workplaces, deems impaired respiratory function to be a
<br />disability. (Daynard, R.A., "Environmental tobacco smoke and the Americans with Disabilities
<br />Act," Nonsmokers' Voice 15(1): 8 -9.)
<br />The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the risk of acute
<br />myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease associated with exposure to tobacco smoke is
<br />non - linear at low doses, increasing rapidly with relatively small doses such as those received
<br />from secondhand smoke or actively smoking one or two cigarettes a day, and has warned that all
<br />patients at increased risk of coronary heart disease or with known coronary artery disease should
<br />avoid all indoor environments that permit smoking. (Pechacek, Terry F.; Babb, Stephen,
<br />"Commentary: How acute and reversible are the cardiovascular risks of secondhand smoke ?"
<br />British Medical Journal 328: 980 -983, April 24, 2004.)
<br />Given the fact that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, the American
<br />Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers ( ASHRAE) bases its
<br />ventilation standards on totally smokefree environments. ASHRAE has determined that there is
<br />currently no air filtration or other ventilation technology that can completely eliminate all the
<br />carcinogenic components in secondhand smoke and the health risks caused by secondhand
<br />smoke exposure, and recommends that indoor environments be smokefree in their entirety.
<br />( Samet, J.; Bohanon, Jr., H.R.; Coultas, D.B.; Houston, T.P.; Persily, A.K.; Schoen, L.J.;
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