Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Workers

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Laws that prohibit smoking in workplaces appear to have little effect on the prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure in certain occupations, according to a new analysis published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Researchers from CDC and NIOSH analyzed data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey, or NHIS. While workers in states with comprehensive smoke-free laws were least likely to report exposures to secondhand smoke, 8.6 percent of nonsmoking workers in states with such laws reported frequent secondhand smoke exposure at work. These workers are likely employed in industries where work occurs outdoors and in other settings beyond the reach of smoke-free laws. Information from the MMWR report appears below.

From “Workplace Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure Among U.S. Nonsmoking Workers, 2015”: “Enhanced and sustained efforts to protect nonsmoking workers through comprehensive smoke-free laws and implementation of smoke-free workplace policies by employers can benefit public health.”

SOURCE

CDC: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: “Workplace Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure Among U.S. Nonsmoking Workers, 2015” (July 2019).

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the Synergist

In August, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that a student intern and a researcher at Oak Ridge Associated Universities had devised an experiment to replicate the McCluskey incident in order to study the effects of radiation on the body. By irradiating vials of their own blood for different lengths of time, the researchers hope to generate data that clinicians and first responders can refer to following an exposure incident.