Clearing The Air

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Secondhand smoke in bars & restaurants vs. welding smoke in our factories

I quit smoking nearly 20 years ago, and I think it is always good when a smoker decides to quit smoking voluntarily. But today's smoking bans, financed by the pharmaceutical nicotine companies which profit from passage of those bans, are coercive, collusive, and frankly bordering on racketeering in my opinion. Especially when air quality test results prove secondhand smoke concentrations are 152 times safer than OSHA guidelines . The California EPA Air Resources Board recently conducted air quality tests on secondhand smoke and obtained results 50,000 – 100 times safer than OSHA guidelines.

The point I would make is that county, state, and local officials seem to be content with OSHA air quality standards in its factories, where workers are exposed to welding smoke and plasma smoke at concentrations MUCH heavier and more carcinogenic than tobacco smoke. At our factories local government officials are content to let OSHA guidelines dictate, however in the bars & restaurants the air quality, even though 152 times safer than OSHA guidelines, secondhand smoke is considered a health hazard. Quite the hypocrisy isn't it?

So the question is, do county commissioners and local politicians care less about the health of our factory workers than they do about the health of our restaurant and bar workers? I hope and believe that is not the case. I believe were it not for the fact that some influential non-profits are bombarding our politicians with reams upon reams of their "studies", financed by pharmaceutical nicotine interests like RWJF, government officials would have never taken the secondhand smoke issue upon themselves. That is the reason I provide government officials with the RWJF (Nicoderm) grant information. Nicoderm benefactors demand a smoking ban as part of their marketing strategy, however since recent air quality studies show that there is NO health hazard as defined by OSHA; government officials need to know they don't have to give in to the Robert Wood Johnson / Nicoderm demands.

Update: The American Cancer Society air quality testing proves secondhand smoke is up to 25,000 times safer than OSHA regulations for secondhand smoke.