Smoking has been dealt another blow. This time, in casinos.
Chandran Achutan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, led a study that recommends that tobacco smoke be banned in three Las Vegas casinos – casinos that were part of the study. Though the recommendations carry no mandate, study results may have broad implications and could be used by agencies to consider banning smoking in casinos nationwide.
It is the largest occupational study to look at NNAL — a known carcinogen in tobacco smoke — in the urine of casino dealers.
Researchers measured environmental tobacco smoke exposure and surveyed 124 non-poker dealers, including those who deal blackjack and keno, at Bally’s, Paris, and Caesars Palace, where customers are allowed to smoke.
Dr. Achutan led the study, which began in 2005, while employed at the federal National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an agency that is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study was initiated following casino employees filing a health hazard evaluation request with NIOSH.
“We found evidence of workplace exposure to a tobacco-specific carcinogen among casino dealers engaged in games such as blackjack and keno where customers are allowed to smoke,” Dr. Achutan said. “Based on the known link between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and health effects, we recommend establishing casino-wide no smoking policies and developing smoking cessation programs for casino employees.”
“Although our recommendations are not enforceable, OSHA and other agencies can use the findings to set occupational health standards,” he added.
Researchers asked dealers about symptoms that may have been related to environmental tobacco smoke exposure, took personal breathing zone and area air samples, and took urine samples at the beginning and end of the workshifts, to see if components of the smoke were absorbed in the body. Dealers and casino office staff also were asked about their work, medical problems and symptoms.
In addition, Dr. Achutan said more dealers reported respiratory symptoms than administrative and engineering employees, but the differences between the groups were not statistically significant.
As a public health professor, he said would like to see people not be exposed to tobacco smoke in occupational or non-occupational settings. “The Surgeon General’s report links secondhand tobacco smoke exposure to lung cancer,” he said.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,600 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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