Bar workers have reported fewer respiratory problems following Scotland’s smoking ban, University of Aberdeen scientists have found.
They are also suffering less irritation of the eyes and throat, say the Aberdeen researchers who have been studying the impact of the legislation on the health of bar workers.
These health improvements have been identified in smokers as well as non-smokers, say the scientists who have also found that bar staff who do light up are also smoking less.
The findings will be outlined by Professor Jon Ayres and Dr Sean Semple at a major conference opening in Edinburgh today which examines the experience of Scotland and other countries following the launch of smoke free measures.
Professor Ayres, Head of the University of Aberdeen's Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, will describe the respiratory benefits that have been identified as part of an extensive year-long study of 371 bar staff from 72 pubs in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Said Professor Ayres: "The improvement in bar workers' symptoms one year following the legislation is a very positive finding and seems to have benefited both non-smoking and actively smoking bar staff. The longer term benefits of these improvements could well prove to be substantial."
Dr Semple will present further evidence confirming that the ban has led to dramatic reductions in bar workers' exposure to second-hand smoke.
Earlier this year the researchers announced that the ban had resulted in a massive improvement in air quality for bar workers.
Now using different measurement indicators – analysing nicotine in saliva – they reveal that non-smoking bar workers' exposure to tobacco smoke has been reduced by an average of 89% since the introduction of the ban.
The study also showed significant reductions in the nicotine intake of bar workers who smoked, suggesting that as well experiencing reduced second-hand smoke exposure, smokers were also smoking fewer cigarettes.
Dr Semple, Lecturer at the University's Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, said: "This large study was carried out in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow and shows that smoke-free legislation has almost completely removed occupational exposure to second-hand smoke among workers in the hospitality sector.
"Before the legislation non-smoking bar workers were breathing in very high levels of second-hand smoke during their work-shift. Non-smoking bar workers had nicotine intakes approximately seven times higher than non-smokers in the general population with some analyses suggesting that this was equivalent to smoking about 160 cigarettes per year.
"Our study shows that this has been successfully reduced to a level comparable to most Scottish non-smokers.
"The study also shows very high compliance with the legislation in almost all the bars that took part in our research. Bar workers reported that compliance increased from immediately post-ban through to the end of the study in early 2007 and this was supported by the falling levels of a nicotine metabolite in their saliva."
The exposure findings are also published today in the Advance Access facility of the scientific journal Annals of Occupational Hygiene.
The NHS Health Scotland funded project, Bar workers' Health and Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure (BHETSE) was carried out by DEOM in conjunction with the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh and the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow.