Posted on 04/07/2002 2:08:31 PM PDT by Max McGarrity
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Smoking was a hot topic at this year’s winter meeting of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
A seminar and forum were held Jan. 13 on whether ASHRAE needs to establish a separate indoor air quality (IAQ) standard for the hospitality industry. Some have criticized ASHRAE Standard 62-1999, “Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality,” saying it does not adequately address the needs of those who own businesses where smoking is still commonplace, such as bars, restaurants and casinos.
Therefore, ASHRAE has proposed Addendum 62g, which would establish ventilation guidelines for separating smokers from nonsmokers. The addendum exempts high-rise dwellings. Antismoking activists oppose the addendum, saying it attempts to determine a “safe” level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.
Dozens of bar owners and representatives from casinos, restaurant industry trade groups and tobacco companies spoke during the two-hour open forum. Many of the speakers came to the forum from Canada, where several cities have passed or are considering totally banning smoking in restaurants, bars and bingo parlors. Most of the restaurant owners said they have lost or will lose up to 25% of their business if a smoking ban in enacted in their communities.
“Our survival depends on our ability to accommodate all patrons,” said one bar owner from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Vancouver was one of the first cities in Canada to attempt a total smoking ban in bars and restaurants, but the British Columbia Supreme Court struck down the ban in 2000, declaring the legislation to be too broad.
Just fix it
“A lot of our customers smoke, and if they can’t smoke, they won’t come,” he added. “It’s important ASHRAE get off the fence. If we can send someone to the moon, surely we can figure out how to get smoke out of a bar.”
The bar owner said much of the antismoking legislation was based on the myth that “one molecule of smoke will knock you dead.”
Antismoking activists were very vocal during the forum. One activist from Pennsylvania asked what the “hospitality” industry really was. “Our concern is that if this rule passes, anyone who wants to allow smoking can call themselves a ‘hospitality industry,’” the activist said.
Some ASHRAE members said the society could not create a smoking-related standard until the federal government announces what is the “safe” level of exposure to tobaco smoke, which led one person to ask if ASHRAE would feel comfortable determining a “safe” number of tobacco-related deaths due to secondhand smoke.
Several ASHRAE members in the audience complained that the discussion denigrated into a debate on smoking and not a talk about the merits of the addendum.
Michael McConnell is the managing editor of Snips magazine. He can be reached at 248-244-6416.
Remember, the reason ASH dropped its lawsuit against OSHA was OSHA's threat to set an "acceptable level" of ets. Think about the ridiculousness of this stand: there IS an acceptable level of, for instance, benzene; there IS an acceptable level of radioactivity; there IS an acceptable level of virtually EVERY toxin in existence--many of which would kill a human instantly--except environmental tobacco smoke.
LungUSA.org has an estimate on its website that indicates 17,000 lung cancer deaths are attributable to inhaled carcinogens in workplaces (see link below). Yet, all guestimated lung cancer deaths due to second-hand smoke (SHS) are only around 3000 from all venues, in AND outside the workplace. Why have ventilation standards only for SHS, when there are other caustic substances causing a much higher proportion of the lung cancer deaths? Hospitality industry entrepeneurs who can ill afford it are being unfairly singled out for costly regulation. _______________________
Keep adding up the figures. There were an estimated 164,100 new cases of lung cancer and an estimated 156,900 deaths from lung cancer in the United States in 2000.
-Smoking "causes" 85-90% of ALL lung cancers (or so they say - according to Harvard Medical and the Mayo Clinic). (that translates to 139,485 to 147,690 of the new cases or 133,365 to 141,210 of the deaths)
-Second Hand Smoke (SHS) "causes" 3000 deaths per year (or so they say). \
-Inhalation of carcenogenic substances in the workplace add up to 17,000 deaths per year (or so they say).
- Radon "causes" between 15,000 and 22,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States -- 12 percent of all lung cancer deaths are linked to radon (or so they say).
NOTE: No mention of viruses or biological agents at all, yet it's been recently discovered that human papillimovirus (HPV) causes nearly all of cervical cancers. Mechanisms for causing cancer from viral agents are readily apparent in that they replicate by using DNA in human cells and thus can cause normal cell replication to go awry. HPV DNA and RNA strands have been found in malignant lung tissues, but not in the surrounding healthy tissues. Biological agents have been implicated and estimated to contribute to anywhere from at least 5% to in excess of 40% of lung cancers.
And that only scratches the surface. What about other sources of air pollution in our industrial society and other carcinogenic substances readily available in our homes? _____________________________
As nations debate the future effect on the climate of burning fossil fuels, a study finds no question that air pollution from exhaust pipes and smoke stacks already is killing people worldwide. ... Devra Lee Davis, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School for Public Policy and Management in Pittsburgh said the burning of gasoline and coal are causing people to die prematurely from asthma, heart disease and lung disorders. "It is our best estimate that more people are being killed by air pollution from traffic than from traffic crashes," (AP, Aug. 16, 2001 11:00:00)
Currently the U.S. dumps into the atmosphere 58 million tons (megatons) of pollutants a year (more than 530 pounds per capita). Of these 530 pounds per capita, about 140 are carcinogenic hydrocarbons, and 120 are nitrogen oxide gas, that adversely affects lung tissues. Most of the rest is carbon monoxide, linking to the blood's haemoglobin and displacing oxygen. Not to mention super-carcinogenic formaldehyde, and benzene. The mathematical comparison with the sum of direct pollutants intake of an individual smoking one pack a day is 0.44 grams, versus the daily per capita national average of 659 grams available to his/her lungs by air pollution.
You decide WHO's lying. And why.
How awful! Next thing you know, business owners might even get the idea that they have property rights! </ sarcasm>
I am however hoping that a giant size backlash is in the works.
She wrote:
"Can you help with this one. Am I correct in my analysis:
"For cocktail lounges, up to 30 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per occupant shall be provided for 100 people per 1,000 square feet." This language can be construed to require 18 whole room air changes per hour for a 20wide x 50 long x 10 high lounge
Is this a reasonable number of air changes?"
Ahah! Now I see (I think). Apparently that "standard" is being proposed and she wants to know how it compares to a "normal" air exchange situation, one that exists now prior to the proposal. Only an HVAC representative could answer that, imo. (Any heating/ventilation/ac experts here want to take a crack at this? Hello?)
Whats their point......... isn't smoking what the whole debate is about. ??
Great Dane, the conference wasn't supposed to be about smoking, it was supposed to be the annual meeting of ASHRAE,the group that sets the standards on which our laws are based as regards heating, air conditioning and ventilation. What happened is that ASHRAE was going to discuss CHANGING one of their rules that had totally disregarded smoking in their ventilation standards (due in large part to a nationally known professional anti being a voting member of their board). They planned to ADD a ventilation standard that included smoking, and the antis went wild. Stan Glantz and his ilk were passing out "scholarships" and PAYING their anti-sheep to go to this meeting and create havoc. If ASHRAE does change the standard, antis won't have a leg to stand on where businesses want to use ventilation in order to accommodate ALL their customers, including smokers. This is an important issue.
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