Clearing The Air

Friday, September 16, 2005

MPAAT determines Hennepin County Bars, which now have up to 65% less business.....

........due to the smoking ban, also now have less airborne dust.....due to less customer traffic.

Of course MPAAT is trying to use this very unscientific air quality test as proof that the elimination of secondhand smoke eliminated 99% of indoor air pollution....according to the EPA.

Three problems with their "scientific" study.

1) with up to 65% less business at some Hennepin County bars.......duh. Less customers means less airborne dust.....foot traffic, clothing dust, dandruff, skin cells, etc.

2) All the MPAAT "scientific" study tested for was cumulative airborne particulate (dust), there is NO attempt to determine if any of that dust was harmful. Example: when OSHA goes in to a factory to determine if the indoor air quality is hazardous they measure for specific hazardous compounds. At a stainless steel welding factory they will measure for airborne nickel or chromium......they don't go in with a Met One laser particle counter and determine there are 5,000,000 - 10,000,000 particles per cubic meter we need to shut you down; because those readings don't determine that anything is unhealthy.

PS. I've used a Met One in many factories and 5 - 10 million is an actual average reading.....funny how the recipients of Johnson & Johnson Nicoderm money are so concerned about bars & restaurants where the particle levels are only 5 -10% of what the factory air particulate counts are....perhaps if Johnson & Johnson produced a welding smoke cessation patch you might see the American Lung, and American Cancer, and RWJF* pushing for welding smoke bans....but that won't happen because local government wouldn't allow for such a stoppage in production.

3) the EPA has no experience or authority in indoor air quality (except on infomercials for the Sharper Image.. good credible choice MPAAT), EPA dictates outdoor air quality ........indoor air quality is OSHA's realm and has been for decades. By the way, the actual scientific results by an environmental health department, proved secondhand smoke in 19 bars & restaurants in 2003-2004 is 150 times lower (safer than) OSHA permissible exposure limits require.

Another city in the U.S. recently, I won't say where, also tried to pull the MPAAT scam. That being, measure airborne particulate to show how hazardous secondhand smoke is.....problem is particulate matter is all airborne dust......you haven't identified any hazardous matter, if any, in the air.

That's why you measure for a specific known hazardous substance, which the environmental health department of St. Louis Park did. They measured for nicotine for the following reason. Secondhand smoke cannot be characterized as a single component, just as welding smoke. The only way to effectively determine which, if any, of the chemicals poses a health risk is to measure the air quality for a specific chemical. The city of St. Louis Park, MN. Environmental Health Department, after consulting with a number of professional laboratories, chose to measure for nicotine since it is considered a "trace' component of secondhand smoke. The way it was explained to me by health department officials, is that the other components benzene, formaldehyde, etc. are also given off in other products. Example, benzene is given off from burning food in a kitchen, formaldehyde is given off from carpeting so nicotine is measured because it is unique to secondhand smoke. We then compared to the nicotine readings to the OSHA pel, and found secondhand smoke levels are 150 times safer than OSHA requires. If you could measure benzene, then you could compare that to the OSHA pel for benzene.

Just as OSHA doesn't have an airborne limit listing for "welding smoke", it also doesn't have an airborne limit listing for "secondhand smoke", you need to measure for the suspected specific harmful substance. For welding smoke that would be airborne nickel or chromium, for secondhand smoke that may be nicotine, benzene or whatever.....if those individual chemical readings fall below OSHA pel for that given substance, then it IS NOT a hazard as defined by OSHA..

Also to say there is no safe level of a potentially harmful airborne substance is an outright lie.....determining safe levels of all potentially hazardous substances is what OSHA has been doing for decades.

Nice try Star and Sickle.....but just because the RWJF has paid millions to get favorable media coverage.....doesn't give every pro-smoking ban story enough credibility to print as fact.

*RWJF owns $5.4 billion dollars in Johnson & Johnson NicodermCQ stock. Our Attorney General's office recently stated it's brief investigation showed $4.4 billion dollars in J & J stock. While the ALA, ACS, AMA, and other health and non-profit agencies have accepted $200,000,000.00 in grant money from RWJF. Sort of gives smoking bans and their motives a whole new perspective...doesn't it?

More on the MPAAT scam from: Kool Aid, Anti-Strib, Speed Gibson