Nonsmoking Sections Still Smoking
The upshot of this research: Cigarette smoke is sneaking into nonsmoking nooks.
"Even though casino restaurants are supposed to be nonsmoking by state law, the open air floor plan of casinos creates a shared air space, and this allows secondhand smoke to move from the gaming floor into the restaurants and creating health hazards of secondhand smoke exposure to those present, whether it is workers or patrons," said nursing professor Nancy York, nursing professor and lead investigator on a study that found some Southern Nevada restaurants still contain unsafe levels of secondhand smoke despite a smoking ban.
"Secondhand smoke naturally drifts in the air currents and ventilation systems can distribute secondhand smoke throughout a building," she said.
The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, enacted in December 2006, prohibits smoking in all indoor spaces with the exception of areas typically off limits to children. Restaurants in Southern Nevada casinos are nonsmoking, but the gaming areas are not.
Unsafe Levels of Air Pollution
York and Kiyoung Lee, a public health professor at the University of Kentucky, measured air quality samples from 16 casinos in Southern Nevada to gauge the relationship between overall indoor air quality and restaurant air quality.
Researchers tested eight on-Strip and eight off-Strip casino restaurant and gaming areas in Henderson and Las Vegas. While the casino restaurant areas had less secondhand smoke pollution than casino gaming areas, 12 of 16 restaurants contained air pollution levels exceeding the annual U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommendation. Three of these 12 restaurants exceeded levels recommended by the EPA as safe for children, the elderly, and those with heart or lung diseases.
In the gaming areas of all the tested casinos, air pollution exceeded levels the EPA recommends as safe.
"These findings have serious life-threatening consequences for casino employees and patrons," said York. "Previous research has found smoke-filled casinos can have up to 50 times more cancer-causing particles in the air than highways and city streets during rush hour traffic. Our research helps to confirm this."
Chris Pritsos, a University of Nevada, Reno professor, found in previous research that casino employees exposed to secondhand smoke at work suffer from increased DNA damage, which can lead to greater risks of developing cancers and heart disease.
York plans to expand the study to include additional nonsmoking areas in casinos such as daycares, movie theaters, arcades, and bowling alleys.
Related Information
Las Vegas Review-Journal story
In Business Las Vegas story
Las Vegas Sun story
School of Nursing
Nancy York
