Clearing The Air

Friday, June 30, 2006

American Lung Association of MN and the pro-smoking ban activists believe (or hope) the public is too stupid to understand the facts

You may recall that I usually refer to the City of St. Louis Park air quality testing and how it compares to the OSHA regulations for the trace chemical measured -nicotine.

The data shows secondhand smoke levels to be up to 500 times safer than OSHA regulations:
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2006/02/air-quality-testing-and-secondhand.html

And then our own Bob Moffit from the American Lung Association of Minnesota would write some comment on how much b.s. the air quality testing was because it only measured for the trace chemical nicotine......well apparently he didn't think it was so much b.s. when it first came out.....before I compared it to the OSHA guidelines....that is.

From Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) website, comes this story:

"MN Group Tests Air Quality in Nonsmoking Sections of Restaurants [12/22-3]"

"Prompted by the possibility of the next Minnesota Legislature considering a total smoking ban in restaurants and bars, the Pioneer Press Watchdog tested the air in the nonsmoking sections of 20 east-metro restaurants to see how much secondhand smoke diners could expect."

"During the past few weeks, ..(they)... tested "nonsmoking" air with equipment measuring the amount of nicotine, which in turn indicates the amount of secondhand smoke."

"In a few, we found air so smoky that James Repace, an international expert, called it very unhealthy for anyone."

"I'm not surprised at all by your findings," said Bob Moffitt of the American Lung Association of Minnesota. "We've been saying for years......"

The pretend air quality specialist Repace then tried to baffle us with his B.S., which apparently the media and Bob Moffitt (ALAMN) bought hook line and sinker.

"The level of nicotine in nonsmoking sections of the 20 east-metro restaurants tested ranged widely, from less-than-1 to 25 (ug) micrograms per cubic meter. A 1 is considered moderate, while a 3 would be unhealthy for some people, such as those with asthma or heart disease. A 5 would be unhealthy for most people, while a 15 would be very unhealthy. Above a 25, the air would be considered hazardous, said Repace, a biophysicist who does research at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. "

But what Repace and the other pseudo-scientists didn't tell you is that OSHA has a safe permissible exposure limit (pel) for the measured marker chemical nicotine. The OSHA safe level is 0.5 mg (milligram) / cu.M. same as 500 ug (micrograms) / cu. M. so at 1 - 25 ug / cu. M. the air quality testing proved secondhand smoke levels were 20 -500 times safer than OSHA regulations (OSHA pel is the acceptable safe exposure level for an 8 hour day, 40 hour per week time period). Of course Repace, Moffit, the American Lung and others involved didn't provide those facts to the Pioneer Press, the media, or any of our lawmakers.

full article here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050121045003/http://www.no-smoking.org/dec04/12-22-04-3.html

Lying, and or omitting data when it suits their cause, makes these once reputable organizations the sleaziest people lurking about in city halls, county commission, and state legislative offices.

By the way, below is the $300,000.00 Mr. James Repace received from Nicoderm interests at RWJF, so we know his financial motivation.....what's your Bob?
http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=21651

Oh, and look here, this was Bob Moffit of the American Lung Association's motivation......$99 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Nicoderm affiliate).
http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=14912&ia=143

Not a bad days work for spreading a few lies and exaggerations...... wonder how I can get a gig like that?

I wonder how Moffit and Repace feel about the American Cancer Society air quality testing which proves secondhand smoke levels are up to 25,000 times safer than OSHA indoor air quality regulations for secondhand smoke.