SMOKING BAN IN IRELAND

Smoking In Ireland



Smoking in Ireland

Introduction

On March 29th 2004, Ireland became the first country to ban smoking in indoor workplaces. The effectiveness of this major public health initiative on exposure and risk for bar workers in Galway city was assessed. 9 city pubs were sampled for particulate matter as a marker of second-hand smoke (SHS) concentrations. Sampling was carried out on five Saturday nights, three prior to, and two following the ban. The Irish smoking ban was introduced (Office of Tobacco Control, Ireland 2004) to protect workers and others from the now well established risks of heart disease, cancer and asthma and to re-establish the basic human right to good quality air in view of the ineffectiveness of current ventilation technologies as a safeguard for workers' health. SHS is a complex mixture of several thousand individual gaseous and particulate compounds, many with known adverse health effects (California EPA 2004) and for which no safe exposure level has been established (WHO 2000). Particulate pollution has also been associated with increased hospital admissions and prolonged exposure is implicated in reducing overall life expectancy (Schwarz and Dockery 1992) Although the ban relates to virtually all indoor workplaces, the debate surrounding its implementation has centered on the pub and in particular its potentially beneficial impact on bar-workers' health. Previous research had indicated that Irish bar-workers were exposed to high concentrations of SHS and consequently were at high risk (Mulcahy and Repace 2002). Those studies that have examined the impact of bans in other jurisdictions point to reduced exposure and risk (Repace 2004, Sargent et al 2004, Ott et al 1996). The present study sought to measure the impact of the smoking ban on concentrations of respirable air particles, a popular marker of SHS (California EPA 2004) in a sample of city centre pubs before and after the ban (Allwright, 2002, pp. 10).

Aims and Values

Ireland today became the first European country where smoking is prohibited in public places, following the entry into force of a controversial law passed by the Dublin government's image of similar measures in force in California and in the Australian city of Sydney and your region, New South Wales. The government aims to cut a dramatic figure as well: 7,000 deaths each year from diseases linked to active and passive smoking, tackling a specific aspect of the problem: that of non-smoking employees converted to passive smoking in their workplace. According to the Ministry of Health, approximately 70% of Irish people do not smoke "and a great many children are exposed involuntarily to the effects of passive smoking, which has huge health risks."

Smoking 'environment', says the department, increases between 20 and 30% the risk of lung cancer and is linked to other cancers (leukemia, bladder cancer, liver and brain tumors), it will increase between 25 to 30% the risk of heart disease. The new law is expanded, especially in workplaces and bars and restaurants, a ban already in force for a number of public ...