Air in smoky Ada County bars is 36 times more polluted than air outside, group says

A new study on pollution in Boise, Meridian and Garden City bars is the latest chapter in Smokefree Idaho’s 18-month-long campaign to protect workers and patrons.

So far, the campaign has not succeeded in getting any Treasure Valley cities to ban smoking. Eagle came close, but ultimately backed off. But the campaign leaders say they will not stop trying.

“As long as there are workers that are not protected, we are continuing on,” said Heidi Low, Idaho director of government relations for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.

Air in bars on average is 15 times more polluted than air in restaurants, where smoking is prohibited by state law, the coalition said in a news release.

The project is the first scientifically based study of its type to measure the impact of smoking on the indoor air quality in Treasure Valley workplaces, according to a news release from the group.

Volunteers conducted the study under the supervision of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., known for its studies of indoor air quality.

Monitors measured levels of fine particle air pollution. Secondhand smoke is a major source of fine particulate pollution, according to the Coalition for a Healthy Idaho, which is running the Smokefree Idaho campaign.

The coalition is made up of 30 health-related groups, including Blue Cross of Idaho, the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians and the Boise State University Center for Health Policy.

The study found that full-time bar workers are exposed to more than four times the average annual limits of fine particulate air pollution recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

At least 24 states and more than 350 cities that have comprehensive bans on smoking at workplaces, restaurants and bars, Low said.

The coalition is trying to plug remaining holes in Idaho’s state anti-smoking law, which bars smoking in restaurants and most workplaces, but not bars. The line between a bar and a restaurant is a gray area in state law, Low said.

Colleen LaMay: 377-6448