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Secondhand Smoke May Threaten Casino Workers' Health
Article written by EHS Today, July 6, 2009
Casino workers face a higher risk of heart disease and lung cancer because they work in buildings filled with tobacco smoke, suggests new research appearing in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Casino workers "are really the most exposed group in society now," said study author James Repace, a Washington D.C.-area consultant who studies the effects of secondhand smoke. He added that the only other groups exposed to similar amounts of smoke are bartenders- but many states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants.
Nonsmoking mandates at casinos remain rare in the United States. As a result, gambling and smoking still have strong connection.
In the new study, Repace recruited volunteers to visit three Pennsylvania casinos for indicators of tobacco smoke-cancer-causing chemicals and particles small enough to inhale- were an average of four to six times higher inside than outside.
Death Rates
Repace said the total number of casino workers in the state is expected to soon reach 12,000.
Scientists expect that more than 90 percent of the deaths will be from heart disease, with the rest from lung cancer, which is uncommon in nonsmokers. Repace said that an annual death rate of six per 10,000 is roughly five times the extra risk of death for mineworkers from Pennsylvania mine disasters.
Holly Thomsen, a spokesperson for the American Gaming Association, a trade group for the casino industry, said its members are committed to "the highest level of safety and comfort" inside casinos.
Casinos serve both smoking and nonsmoking customers, she said, and "we realize that balancing the needs of these two distinct sets of patrons as well as those of our employees who don't smoke, is of paramount importance."
The Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, which has studied the risk of secondhand smoke to flight attendants when airlines allowed smoking, funded the study.
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