Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Bar employees healthier after smoking ban

From AFP:


WASHINGTON (AFP) - The health of bar employees sharply improved after smoking bans in their workplaces, a study of the effects of second-hand smoke showed.

Waiters and bartenders in bars in Tayside, Scotland showed a quick decline in respiratory ailments as well as a clear improvement in the functioning of their lungs in the two months after a smoking ban was imposed on the bar.

Researchers at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School in Dundee, Scotland led by doctor Daniel Menzies undertook the study after Scotland implemented a general smoking ban for public places in March 2006.

The researchers studied 105 bar workers who didn't themselves smoke, beginning with detailed health tests a month prior to the ban.