New study confirms bar and casino workers are exposed to extremely high levels of secondhand smoke

A new study, conducted by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and the Louisiana Public Health Institute, reveals that on average, non-smoking bar and casino employees have five times more cotinine in their saliva after work shifts than employees who completed their shifts in non-smoking venues. Cotinine is created as the body breaks down nicotine, and its presence in the body builds over the course of a person’s exposure to smoke. As it remains in the body longer than nicotine, cotinine levels are commonly used to determine secondhand smoke exposure. The new study serves to reinforce results from other studies in the country that show bar and casino employees and performers who play in these venues involuntarily inhale enough secondhand smoke every day to suffer some of the same negative health effects of pack-a-day smokers. In addition, prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke can damage performers’ vocal chords or shut them down entirely. Read the preliminary results.