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Fact Sheet

Smoke-Free Policies Improve Air Quality and Reduce Secondhand Smoke Exposure

(June 2008)

Air Quality—Selected Examples

• Smoke-free policies are the only effective way to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke.¹
• After New York implemented a state law in 2003 requiring virtually all indoor workplaces and public places (including restaurants and bars) to be smoke-free, average levels of respirable suspended particles (a measure of secondhand smoke levels) declined by 84% in 20 hospitality settings.²
• A random sample of 41 pubs in two Scottish cities found that levels of fine particulate matter fell by an average of 86% within two months after a comprehensive national smoke-free law took effect.³

Secondhand Smoke Exposure—Selected Examples

• One year after New York's smoke-free law took effect, self-reported secondhand smoke exposure on the job among nonsmoking employees of restaurants, bars, and bowling facilities decreased by 98% and their saliva cotinine levels (a biological marker of secondhand smoke exposure) decreased by 78%.⁴
• Saliva cotinine levels fell by 47% (from 0.078 ng/ml to 0.041 ng/ml) when saliva samples from nonsmokers participating in the New York State Adult Tobacco Survey prior to that state's smoke-free law taking effect were compared with nonsmokers' samples submitted approximately one year later.⁵
• A study in Scotland conducted in 2006–2007 found that within a one-year period, saliva cotinine levels fell by 39% among a nationally representative sample of primary school children after implementation of a national smoke-free law.⁶ A separate study from Scotland conducted in 2005–2007 found that saliva cotinine levels also fell by 39% in approximately a one-year period in nationally representative samples of nonsmoking adults.⁷
• A Massachusetts study conducted from 2001 to 2002 found that compared with employees in workplaces that had implemented 100% smoke-free policies, employees in workplaces with no smoking restrictions were more than 10 times as likely to report exposure to secondhand smoke on the job and were exposed more than six times as long. Workers in workplaces with designated smoking areas were almost three times as likely to report exposure to secondhand smoke on the job and were exposed almost twice as long as workers in smoke-free workplaces.⁸
• A Massachusetts study conducted from 2001 to 2002 indicated that adults who live in towns with local laws making restaurants smoke-free are almost three times more likely to report that they were not exposed to secondhand smoke while visiting restaurants than adults living in towns with weak restaurant smoking regulations. Adults who live in towns with local laws making bars and nightclubs smoke-free are about seven times more likely to report that they were not exposed to secondhand smoke while visiting these venues than adults who live in towns with weak smoking restrictions for these venues.⁹
• A Massachusetts study conducted from 2001 to 2002 found that youth who live in towns with local laws making restaurants smoke-free are twice as likely to report that they were not exposed to secondhand smoke while visiting restaurants as youth who live in towns with weak restaurant smoking restrictions.¹⁰

References

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [cited 2006 Oct 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2006/index.htm.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Indoor Air Quality in Hospitality Venues Before and After Implementation of a Clean Indoor Air Law—Western New York, 2003. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2004;53(44):1038–1041 [cited 2006 Oct 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5344a3.htm.
3. Semple S, Creely KS, Naji A, Miller BG, Ayres JG. Secondhand Smoke Levels in Scottish Pubs: The Effect of Smoke-free Legislation. Tobacco Control 2007;16:127-32 [cited 2008 Apr 08].
4. Farrelly MC, Nonnemaker JM, Chou R, Hyland A, Peterson KK, Bauer UE. Changes in Hospitality Workers’ Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Following the Implementation of New York’s Smoke-Free Law. Tobacco Control. 2005;14(4):236–241 [cited 2006 Oct 23].
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reduced Secondhand Smoke Exposure After Implementation of a Comprehensive Statewide Smoking Ban—New York, June 26, 2003–June 30, 2004 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2007;56(28):705–708 [cited 2007 Jul 19]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/MMWR/2007/mm5628a_highlights.htm
6. Akhtar PC, Currie DB, Currie CE, Haw SJ. Changes in Child Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (CHETS) Study After Implementation of Smoke-free Legislation in Scotland: National Cross Sectional study. British Medical Journal. 2007;335:545–9 [cited 2008 Apr 08].
7. Haw SJ, Gruer L. Changes in Exposure of Adult Non-Smokers to Secondhand Smoke After Implementation of Smoke-free Legislation in Scotland: National Cross Sectional Survey. British Medical Journal. 2007; 335:549–53 [cited 2008 Apr 08].
8. Skeer M, Cheng DM, Rigotti NA, Siegel M. Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the Workplace. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2005;28(4):331–337 [cited 2006 Oct 23].
9. Albers AB, Siegel M, Cheng DM, Rigotti NA, Biener L. Effects of Restaurant and Bar Smoking Regulations on Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke Among Massachusetts Adults. American Journal of Public Health. 2004;94(11):1959–1964 [cited 2006 Oct 23].
10. Siegel M, Albers AB, Cheng DM, Biener L, Rigotti NA. Effect of Local Restaurant Smoking Regulations on Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure Among Youths. American Journal of Public Health. 2004;94(2):321–325 [cited 2006 Oct 23].

For Further Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO

Media Inquiries: Contact CDC's Office on Smoking and Health press line at 770-488-5493.

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