Smoking ban makes bar staff far healthier

Published: 23 July, 2008

UK: Bar and restaurant staff have been found to be dramatically more healthy since the introduction of the smoking ban in July.

A study, to be released today, by the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre in Warwick tested the air quality in 40 pubs, restaurants and bars across the country.

It found that staff had four times less cotinine, the metabolic byproduct that is produced in the body's blood supply from exposure to nicotine, than they did when tested in June before the smoking ban came into force.

Air quality, measured by the number of particles in the air from cigarette smoke, had dropped for near hazardous levels in June to ones similar to outside air in August.

Hilary Wareing, co-director of the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre, said: "This study proves beyond doubt that smoke-free workplaces are helping to improve the health of the nation's hospitality workers."

The study, which was funded by Cancer Research UK, is to be presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Conference in Birmingham.

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