Tobacco Documents Online

Coalition on Smoking OR Health A PUeuC tOUCY PROJECT WITH THE NATIONAL INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SMOKING AND HEALTH 1607 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 234-9375 fTEfRItaG CO/wMRRFE .. Rebe" C. WerwftwUM. CIW.wuw Aw...kOR l+M.{ A..aciai" ksn :0.~. 4Nu Awr.icrs Hean Awniathn~ M@nC. 0..'s AwK.icreCawn. fxwry fTytN'~OqRKTOR ~.. M.nM.1. Myen M" M"iw kNv...A ~wl/.wie.. ASfRDOATf DIRICTCIR Da:d iL hrwnrrw "R ww. iww.., a anw.. TE~ST~IMON~Y~, OIF~~ ALFRED MUNZE'R, M.D. ON BEHALF OF THE COALITION ON' SMOKING OR HEALTH AND ITS MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS THE AMERICAN LUNG AS'SOCI'AT1UN' THE AM'ERICANI HEART ASSOCIATION THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY ON THE NIO'NSM'0KER5' RIGHTS ACT' OF 19'85 BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CIVIL SERVICE, POST OFFICE AND, GENERAL SIE'RV I CES COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS U.S. SENATE SEPTEMBER 30, 1985 "CIGARETTE SMCiK1NG 15 THE SINGLE MOST PREVENTABLE CAUSE Of DEATH IN THE UNITED STATE!5" G-15'.

l Mr. Chairman and Members of' the Subcommittee, I am Dr. Alfred Munzer a practicing physici'an who specializes in lung di'sease. As a voliunteer with th~e American Lung Association,, I serve on their Board of Dilrectors, and chair their Government Relations Committee. I appear before you today on behalf' of the Coalition on Smoking or Health. T~he C'oaliti'on on Smoking or Hiealth, was formed by the A'mericani Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society and is backed by many of' this nation's leading private health, education and youth leadership org,anizationis. The Coal!fti'on was created to bring to the attention of legi'slators and other governmental officials smokiing preventi'on and education issues. On behalf of the C'oali'tioni and its member organizati'ons, I waint to, thank you: for the opportunity toi express our views about the merits of the "N'on-Smokers'' Rights Act of 1985"', aind'' commend' you,, Mr. Stevens, for initroducing this legisl!ation. Currently, too little is done to protect the health, safety and comfort of non-smokers who work in, or who v1sit United States government bu i'1 dings . The "'Non-Smokers' RIghts Act of 1985" recogn i zes. this problem and will require responsible government officicals to address it. N O ~ Exposure of noinsmokers, both chil!dren andl adults, to tobacco ~ ~ combustion products is referred to as passive or involuntary. ~ ~ ~ ~ fl G.-16:

Z!. s.mokingi. In enclIosed spaces, s.moke accumulates. The concentrations vary wi'th the number of smokers, wiith the type of smoking, and with the characteristics of the mtcroenviroinment,especial!lyventilation!.Amiong th e constiituents of tobacco smoke that have! been measured, nitrogen, oxidie, carbon monoxide, nicotine and respi.rable partic,les, nitrosamines, and aldiehydes have been shown to, be, significantly el!evatedl indoors as the resuil!t of tobacco smoking. A vari'ety of measures have been utiTized! to quaintify th~e nonsmoker's exposure to tobacco smoke. For example, studies of th~e level's of respirable particles generated by smoking under natural conditions i'n indoor micro- environments showed a ranige of 90-1140 ugLm , diepend!ingi on the smoker density and the effective ventilation. These 1'evels im most instances, if the exposures were repeated, would be a violation of the Natilonal Ambi!ent Air Q!uality Standard for T'otal Suspended Parti'culate; the outdoor equivalent. More than sufficient sci'entif'i'c evidence exiists of the harmfuT effects of smoking on the th~e nion-smoker to 3',usti'fy strong governmental acti'on to protect the non-smoker. Since thee publitation of the Wihtte-F'roeb study, "Small Airways. Dysfunction in Nonsmokers Chronically Exposed to!Tobacco Smoke", the evi'dlence has accumullated: c-li7

o Several-studies have indicated that from one-half to three-fourths of' nonsmoking adults experience sym- tomiatic effects from ambient tobacco smoke exposu.re i'ncl'udi'ng eye, nose and throat irriltation, headache,, and nausea, withi moire severe effects reported im per- sons with chronic heart or liunig di'sease. Two recent sttudies of lung caincer in nonsmokers showed evidence that passive smokinig more than doubles the nonsmoker's rilsk of lungi cancer. Two epi!demiollogi'cal studies of the indoor environment and marbidity--one of 400 adult nonsmokers who were chronical'ly exposed!to tobacco smoke at work and th~e other of young children raised in households with simokers--fou!nd evidence of pullmoinary impairment from passive smoiking. Miost recently, the 1'984 Surgeon G~eneral's Report oni the Health Consequences of Smoking concluded on the ilssue of passive smokinig: ~ o Cigairette smoke can make a si'ginificaint, measureable N contributioni to the leveT of indoor air pollution at ~ levels of smoking and ventillaitian that are common, in ~ ~ i17 C G-18

the indoor environment. o The children of smoking parents have an increased prevalence of reported respiratory symptoms,, and have an increased frequency of bronchitis and pneumonia early in life. As you, Mr. Chairman, are aware from legiislation in your own state of Alaska,, many states have exhibited leadershiip to protect the pubI!ic from health risks associiated with passive smoking by enacting 1!egilslatilon which pl!aces limi'tations on smokiing, in public places. A total of 37' states, have such legiislation in pl'ace. Of these, 24, states limit or restrict smoking in forms of' public transportation. Twenty-one states restrict or ban smoking during public meeti'ngs' or restrict smoking to! certain areas within publ,ic bui'ldtngs owned, - operated, or run by the state. Over half of the states--2'b--restrict smoking within certain health care establishments, usually hospiltaTs or clinics. E'1!even states have laws requi'ring, separate seati'ng for nonsmokers in resturaints and 9 states address smoking in places of retail sales. Finally, 10 states have enacted laws specifically addressing smokiing in the workpllace. Hlowever, a review of statewide regullatiion onlly touches the tip of th~e icebergi. Literally hundreds of county and, muinici'ple governments have. G'-19

enacted le!gisllation to protect the public from the health, risks associated passive smoking. The Coalition supports the "N'on-Smokers' Rig;hts Act of 198'5" as a posi'tive step towards addressing the federal role in the prevention of health effects related' to, passive smoking. It is appropriate that the issue of simolkinig in federal bui'.ldings be addressed in the manner providedi. We wouilid make 2 suggestions regarding improvements to this legislation: o The non-smokinig worker and non-smoking vi'sitor dieserve the same health protection in buil4ingsr under the federal government's juridiiction. We woul'd recommend that language speci'fq, that both worker and visitor areas woul1dlbe covered by such regulations developed - under this proposal. o The bill recognizes several jurisd!ictions for thee development of regul'iations for the limitation of smoking in federal builidi.ngs. We would recommend that the 0'ffice of Smoking or Health or a similar office withiin the HIHS also be iinvolved iln the d'evelopment of these regiulations to ensure a consistent approach amoing the speci'fied'l jurisdictions.

In cllosinig I would li'ke to review the results of' a survey the Ameri'can Lung Association conduicted om the issue of non-smoker's rights. The survey, carri!ed out for ALA by the Gallup Organi'zationi„ showedl that 82%' of the nonsmokers and 55% of current smoikers agree that smokers should not smoike around nonsmokers. On the issue of smoking in the workplace, 64% of the nonsmokers andl 63% of the smokers preferred designated smoking areas in the workplace. These results are indicative of the concern of the American public about the health risks of passive smoking. "The Non-Smokers' Rights Act of 198I5I", providlingi for the limitation of smokiing in federal buildings, is a common sense approach designed to reduce exposure to tobacco smoke,, a substance which in our opinion requiires no further study to justify governmental action to protect the non-smoker. M'ore than sufficient evi'dence of its harmfulness exists. We shiould not wait for further before enacting reasonable regulations restricting smoking in public places, includling, the workplace, as a means of protecting publ!ic healith. The Coalition looks forward' to working with you to einact this very important publilc health legisllation. Thank youl.