Bar workers ‘toast good health after smoking ban’

People working in bars and pubs in Scotland have enjoyed significant health benefits since a nationwide ban on smoking in confined public spaces was introduced, a new study says.

Today’s research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, says that the smoking ban led to “significant improvements in respiratory symptoms and lung function within two months”.

Describing second-hand tobacco smoke as a “major worldwide” public health issue, the report’s authors explained that there was a causal relationship between second-hand smoke and an increased risk of coronary artery disease, lung cancer and cerebrovascular disease.

But the research team from the Dundee-based Ninewells Hospital and Medical School say that the smoking ban, introduced on March 26th, has halved the proportion of bar workers suffering from respiratory and sensory symptoms.

Their investigation involved 105 people working in bars and pubs between February and June of this year, 77 of which completed the study.

Participants were measured one month before, and then one month and two months after the ban was introduced for evidence of respiratory symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath, or sensory symptoms that include irritated eyes and throat pains.

Before the smoking ban was introduced, 79 per cent of bar workers suffered from either set of symptoms, but within a month of it being implemented, this proportion fell to 53.2 per cent.

When researchers examined the workers two months after the ban, they discovered only 46.8 per cent displayed any of the aforementioned symptoms.

In an accompanying editorial, Mark Eisner of the University of California, San Francisco, said: “Mandating smoke-free workplaces will decrease second-hand smoke exposure and will improve respiratory health, prevent chronic disease, and extend life span. Important salutary health effects occur in as little as one month after cessation of second-hand smoke exposure.

“The comprehensive body of research documenting the serious adverse health effects of passive smoking provides a powerful rationale for prohibiting smoking in all public places. The time has come to clear the air,” he added.