Mechanistic data support protecting non-smokers from the lethal effects of second-hand smoke

Excerpt

In 1998 when California became the first major jurisdiction to ban smoking in bars, Paul Blanc and colleagues took advantage of this natural (governmental) experiment to advance our understanding of the health impact of second-hand smoke (SHS) on non-smokers. Anticipating the reduction in exposure, they studied 53 bar tenders before and 2 months after the ban, demonstrating clear improvements in pulmonary function (Eisner et al. 1998). Although previous studies had demonstrated reduced symptoms following exclusion of smoking from workplaces, this was the first study to employ objective biomarkers of dysfunction. Sixteen years later, data are still being marshaled to clarify the health implications of eliminating smoking from workplaces, with an important contribution by Rajkumar et al. in this issue of the International Journal of Public Health (Rajkumar et al. 2014). …