BMA condemns tobacco industry ventilation claims

The BMA today condemned claims made by the tobacco industry today (13 January 2005) that ventilation in bars could protect the public from the harmful effects of passive smoke.

Following a conference held this morning by the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, the BMA stressed that ventilation does not protect employees or customers from the deadly effects of passive smoke and condemned arguments otherwise as untrue and based on flawed science.

Research in America found that there was 50 times more air pollution in a smoky bar than in New York's Holland tunnel at rush hour1, and studies have found that ventilation in bars does not reduce the risk to the health of customers or staff.

The tobacco industry has proposed that ventilation is the solution to the problem of passive smoke, however, scientific evidence proves that conventional ventilation and air-cleaning systems do not provide effective protection against the health hazards of second hand smoke.

Ventilation systems use a filtration method to re-circulate air. However, while this method can clear the smoky atmosphere, the toxins present in the gas of second hand smoke remains.

Dr Peter Terry, Chairman of BMA Scotland said: "Passive smoke kills. Businesses installing expensive ventilation systems will do so in the belief that they are protecting staff and the public from the ill-effects of second hand smoke. The sad truth is that they are mistaken.

"Although good ventilation can help reduce the irritability of smoke, it does not eliminate its poisonous components. Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 toxins and more than 50 cancer-causing substances. Many of these are odourless, invisible gasses, which are not removed by ventilation systems.

"Partial bans on smoking in enclosed public places would not protect people from the harmful health effects of exposure to passive smoke and voluntary measures have failed.

"Smoke free enclosed public places are what Scotland wants and needs. Our only hope now is that our MSPs are not wavered by misleading claims fuelled by the tobacco industry. The only way to protect the significant majority of the population who do not smoke is to legislate for smoke free enclosed public places."

http://www.bma.org.uk