Tobacco Documents Online

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SECOND-HAND SMOKE WORKPLACE RISKS MEASURABLE ~.~.w :~~srr , Two government scientists, James Repace, MSc., and Alfred Lowrey, PhII:, working privately, have published a scientific article' which, for the first'time, shows how to interpret nonsmokers' risks from second-hand smoke in individual workplaces from nicotine measurements in workplace air. Analyzing published data from over 200 workplaces, Repace and Lowrey concluded that second-hand tobacco smoke typically poses levels of risk far beyond that at which the federal government strictly regulates : cancer-causing substances. This was found to be true irrespective of whether the workplaces employed white collar, blue collar, or restaurant service workers. Repace and Lowrey also developed a method to analyze the levels of the nicotine metabolite, cotinine, in the body fluids of nonsmokers. According to Repace, "based on data from 4000 persons, the levels of cotinine found in the blood and urine of typical nonsmokers indicate second-hand smoke lung cancer risks which . are thousands of times the acceptable level for carcinogenic residues in air, water, or food." Repace and Lowrey also concluded that measures short of banning smoking in buildings are unlikely to result in acceptable levels of risk, due to the difficulty and expense of truly isolating smoking areas from nonsmokers' air. The tobacco industry has argued that bans are unnecessary to control smokers' effluent. The tobacco industry, which now concedes that smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, denies that nonsmokers are at risk from second-hand smoke, and has filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for designating second-hand smoke to be a "Class A" carcinogen, like asbestos, benzene and radioactivity. Repace, a physicist, said that "More than 400,000 tons of tobacco products are burned indoors each year, presenting overwhelming burdens to building ventilation systems, which are designed to control carbon dioxide from human metabolism, not clouds of tobacco carcinogets. Ventilation can control tobacco smoke to within acceptable levels of risk only at grossly unacceptable levels of cost." Repace said that "Continuing to permit smoking in the workplace while at the same time guaranteeing nonsmoking workers' safety would require costly new regulatory burdens on business." Repace stated however, that "Fortunately, the best control. for secondhand smoke is a 25-cent'NO SMOK..ING' sign posted on the front door." N 1JZ. Repace and A.H. Lowrey, "An enforc.eabk indoor air quality standard for environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace." Appearing in the current issue of Risk Analy.ris 13(4):463-475(1993). -.-- - N CONTACT: James Repace: 301-262-9131 (H) 703-308-8745 (W) ~ C'a ~ ~ ~ ~