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Surgeon General's Report on Secondhand Smoke 2006

In June 2006, the Surgeon General released a 700-page report entitled "The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure toDr Richard Carmona Tobacco Smoke". With the help of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the entire Department of Health and Human Services, Dr Richard Carmona has compiled the most comprehensive report on secondhand smoke ever written.

Dr Carmona made 6 major conclusions from the report, including "The scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke." The report also proves that in children and adults who do not smoke, secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease, accounting for about 50,000 deaths per year.

Another conclusion was "Eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects non-smokers from exposure to secondhand smoke." This is the solution to a major health problem, and in the workplace it's incredibly easy to implement.

Recommendations for Controlling Secondhand Smoke
In Chapter 10, the report offers several recommendations for the control of secondhand smoke. Here are a few of the important statements:

Establishing smoke-free workplaces is the only effective way to ensure that secondhand smoke exposure does not occur in the workplace.

Total bans on indoor smoking in hospitals, restaurants, bars, and offices substantially reduce secondhand smoke exposure, up to several orders of magnitude with incomplete compliance, and with full compliance, exposures are eliminated.

Exposures of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke cannot be controlled by air cleaning or mechanical air exchange.

Evidence from peer-reviewed studies shows that smoke-free policies and regulations do not have an adverse economic impact on the hospitality industry.

The evidence is compelling and the recommendations are direct and obvious. Establishing smoke-free workplaces is the effective solution to the problem. Why has OSHA ignored these life-saving recommendations since June of 2006, not to mention ignoring the same recommendations from NIOSH since 1991?

Surgeon General's Report  [switch to CDC web page]