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<br /> <br />High exposure to <br />secondhand smoke <br /> <br />Health effects of <br />exposure <br /> <br />Secondhand Smoke Resource Center <br />Research Highlights <br /> <br />Exposure to Secondhand Smoke and <br />Health of Hospitality Workers <br /> <br />Using blood samples collected from employed adults who reported no <br />exposure to smoking in the home and no recent use of products containing <br />nicotine, researchers attempted to compare the exposure of various occupa- <br />tional groups to secondhand smoke in the workplace. The median geomet- <br />ric mean serum cotinine, a measure of one of the products into which <br />nicotine breaks down, was .16 nglmL. The highest median values of .47 <br />ng/mL, found in waiters and waitresses, were nearly 3 times the mean of all <br />occupational groups. <br /> <br />Wortley PM, Caraballo RS, Pederson, Pechacek TF. <br />Exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace: serum <br />cotinine by occupation. J Occup Environ Med. <br />2002;44:503-9. <br /> <br />Researchers set out to test what effect California's law requiring bars and <br />taverns to be smoke-free would have on the respiratory health of the people <br />that worked in these places. Before the law went into effect, they conducted <br />interviews with bartenders. They asked about smoking history, secondhand <br />smoke exposure, and respiratory symptoms. Then the researchers inter- <br />viewed them again about eight weeks later, after the law was in force. At <br />both periods, they measured lung function with two different tests. Before <br />the ban, 74% of the bartenders reported respiratory symptoms such as <br />wheezing and coughing; after the ban 59 % of the group with symptoms <br />reported that they had disappeared. Before the ban 77% of the bartenders <br />reported irritation of the eyes, nose, or throat; after the ban 78% of the <br />group with irritation reported that it had disappeared. The means of the two <br />measures of lung function (forced expiratory volume and forced vital <br />capacity) also increased. In other words the smoking ban was associated <br />with rapid improvements in respiratory health. <br />Eisner MD. Smith AK, Blanc PD. Bartenders' respiratory <br />health after establishment of smoke-free bars and <br />taverns. JAMAI998:280:1909-14. <br /> <br />Saliva samples were collected from nonsmoking workers in three sites: <br />bars and restaurants that permitted smoking by customers; smoke-free bars <br />and restaurants; and other smoke-free workplacess. Workers who had <br />smoked in the previous six months or used nicotine replacement products <br />