Workplace air 'unfit'

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

By LAURA FASBACH and WALTER DAWKINS
STAFF WRITERS


DANIELLE P. RICHARDS / THE RECORD
Bartender Chris Gunning smoking at General Poor's Tavern in Hackensack. A study says air where smoking is allowed "poses a clear danger" to workers.

Walter Horne is a fatalist when it comes to smoking and health risks.

A waiter at the Cheesecake Factory in Hackensack and a smoker, Horne said it doesn't matter whether the Legislature passes a smoking ban affecting New Jersey's bars, restaurants and casinos.

"I feel like the air outside is just as polluted, so it wouldn't really make a difference to me," Horne said. "We have chemical plants and all that stuff."

But researchers who conducted a new air quality study beg to differ.

In fact, workers throughout New Jersey's smoke-filled establishments are inhaling nearly 3½ times more pollution than what federal regulators consider permissible levels of outdoor pollution, according to the study released Monday.

"Quite frankly, the air is not fit to breathe," said Regina Carlson, executive director of New Jersey GASP, an anti-tobacco group that helped conduct the study.

The results show that allowing smoking in the workplace "poses a clear and present danger" to workers as well as the patrons who frequent smoky establishments, Carlson said at a State House news conference.


The study measured indoor air quality at more than 50 sites around the state - from mom-and-pop diners to bowling alleys and casinos - between Aug. 18 and Sept. 27. Using a hand-held monitoring machine, researchers from the Buffalo, N.Y.-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute measured particles in the air that are 100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

The air in smoky establishments was 15 times more polluted than in similar places that prohibit smoking, according to the study. Researchers also said that the indoor pollution levels were 3.4 times higher than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deems to be safe for outside pollution levels.

Fewer than 19 percent of New Jersey residents smoke, according to 2004 figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Supporters of a proposed ban in public places said they hope the findings will bolster efforts to get a bill passed in the Legislature before the end of the year. One of the bill's intentions is to create a healthier environment for workers, who are subjected to secondhand smoke.

"Unless the Legislature acts, it will probably be done through a class-action lawsuit," said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, a co-sponsor of the Assembly's version of the bill.

The latest version of the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act would ban smoking in venues ranging from restaurants and bars to social clubs such as VFW halls and country clubs. And, in what is likely to become the most contentious provision, smoking would be banned throughout the gaming areas of Atlantic City casinos. An earlier draft would have exempted gaming areas.

A Senate committee approved the bill this year, but the measure has yet to come before the full Senate for a vote.

The Assembly has not moved its version of the bill out of committee, which is necessary for it to be considered for law.

If the measure were to pass, New Jersey would become the 16th state to ban smoking in public places. New York City passed a similar ban in 2003.

Acting Governor Codey, who will step down in January when Governor-elect Jon S. Corzine is sworn in, hopes that getting the smoking ban passed will be part of his legacy.

But time is running out - the current session of the Legislature will also expire in January. That means the bill would die if not enacted by then. Proponents would have to start over again in the next session.

"It is a major goal of the governor's to do something on the smoking ban before he leaves office," said his spokeswoman, Kelley Heck. "He certainly wants to have some sort of an indoor ban in place."

In his campaign, Corzine supported the smoking ban but was undecided on whether it should include casinos.

But some, such as Vincent Rennich, had no doubt casinos should be included.

The 47-year-old has worked as a casino games supervisor in Atlantic City for 25 years. Although he never has been a smoker, he found out recently that he has lung cancer.

"Do we have to subject ourselves to near-death to earn a living?" said Rennich, a supporter of the ban who spoke at the press conference.

"I am embarrassed for our Legislature that we have to hear these stories," said Dr. Alfred Ashford, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society of New York and New Jersey, which helped conduct the study.

Ashford, an oncologist, urged elected leaders to pass the smoking ban as soon as possible because "everyone knows [smoking] kills."

At diners throughout North Jersey, the opinions on the proposed ban were as varied as the menu selections.

Some shrugged off that they were being exposed to pollutants on the job while others hoped a law would be passed soon.

Rosemary Marquez, a waitress at the New Heritage Diner in Hackensack, said she used to smoke but has kicked the habit.

Anything that would reduce her exposure to secondhand smoke would be a welcome change.

"The dangers of secondhand smoke can be very harmful and you can even get cancer from it, so of course I would rather work in a smoke-free environment," Marquez said.

He co-worker, Diane Simpson, was not as sympathetic to the anti-smoking cause.

Although she knows it's unhealthy, Simpson, 48 and a smoker, said she has "the right as an American citizen to go anywhere I want within reason and have a cigarette."

Instead of a ban, she said designating smoking sections in restaurants or bars is adequate.

At Houston's in Hackensack, waitress Diana Mimon said she used to request to work at the restaurant's smoke-free tables.

Then in January, the restaurant issued its own smoke-free policy.

"In college I worked at a really, really smoky bar and I never made the correlation until later that I had bronchitis every couple of months," said Mimon, who went to Rutgers.

"Since I've been working here I haven't been sick once this whole year."

E-mail: fasbach@northjersey.com or dawkins@northjersey.com