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Page 48 Copyright 1995 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc. Congressional Press Releases November 14, 1995, Tuesday SECTION: PRESS RELEASE LENGTH: 512 words HEADLINE: PROPOSED BAN ON SMOKING IN THE WORKPLACE BYLINE: SCOTTY BAESLER , CONGRESSMAN , HOUSE , CRS REPORT CRITICIZES THE VALIDITY OF STUDIES USED TO JUSTIFY BODY: SCOTTY BAESLER, 8TH DISTRICT, KENTUCKY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--NOVEMBER 14, 1995 CRS REPORT CRITICIZES THE VALIDITY OF STUDIES USED TO JUSTIFY PROPOSED BAN ON SMOKING IN THE WORKPLACE WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman Scotty Baesler is calling on the Occupational safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to drop its proposed regulations to ban smoking in the workplace. A 20 month long study on second-hand smoke in the workplace released today by the congressional Research service (CRS) shows OSHA ruled on faulty scientific data to justify its proposed smoking ban, The long-awaited report, entitled "Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Lung Cancer Risk,° is.critical of the poor science used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in assessing workplace exposure to "second-hand smoke." The report also finds major discrepancies in the scientific methods used by the Environmental Protection agency (EPA) to classify second-hand smoke as a known human carcinogen. U.S. Representative Baesler said the CRS report shatters the myth that there is scientific justification for banning smoking in the workplace. OSHA had assessed the lung cancer risk from workplace exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as part of its proposed indoor air quality rule. Under the proposed regulations, every business in the country will either have to ban smoking or restrict smoking to fully enclosed, specially ventilated "designated smoking areas. Among its findings, the CRS concluded OSHA based its risk assessment on studies that disregarded estimates that found no overall association between workplace exposure and lung cancer. As a result, the CRS concluded, "If, on average, workplace ETS exposure is lower- than residential exposure, then it is likely that many workers would not be exposed to sufficient ETS to be at increased risk for lung cancer." Baesler accused OSHA and the EPA of "cooking the science,, in its zeal to I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I I I I Congressional Press Releases, November 14, 1995 Page 49 find a rationale for smoking bans. "The CRS report proves what we have been saying all along, OSHA has been blinded by bad science. in my view, OSHA never proved there is a significant risk of ha= from exposure to PTS in the workplace, and OSHA has not shown that its proposed zero-tolerance policy's reasonably necessary to reduce a significant risk to cancer.° As at result of the CRS findings, the Sixth District Representative is calling on OSHA to withdraw its proposed regulations. Baesler said, "When it comes to smoking in the workplace, I believe common courtesy ought to be the rule of the day. Smoke free zones or designated smoking areas are becoming increasingly common. But science should-not be manipulated to reach a politically correct decision. That's what OSHA was attempting to do in its rush to judgment on smoking in the workplace." Ironically, the CRS report was requested by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif), one of the leading tobacco critics on Capitol According to the CRS, "More extensive workplace exposure data are required before this issue can be resolved." LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: November 15, 1995 I