Why ATL Needs to Be Smoke-free
- No one should have to choose between their health and their job. Everyone has the right the right to breathe smoke-free air at work.
- The science is clear: there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure.
- Secondhand smoke is an occupational hazard for many workers including casino, restaurant, bar, and hotel employees.
- Service employees, along with musicians and entertainers, breathe more secondhand smoke while at work than any other type of employee, and suffer from the same illnesses as smokers.
- Blue Collar employees are less likely than white-collar indoor workers to be covered by smoke-free polices.
The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke Exposure
- Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals. Hundreds are toxic and about 70 can cause cancer. Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults who have never smoked.
- Secondhand smoke causes nearly 42,000 deaths, including more than 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmoking adults each year.
- Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20–30%.
- Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances as smokers.
- Breathing secondhand smoke can have immediate adverse effects on your blood and blood vessels, increasing the risk of having a heart attack.
- People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk of suffering adverse effects from breathing secondhand smoke and should take special precautions to avoid even brief exposures.
Polling Results
Smoke-free Atlanta Voters Survey Research Results
Survey Research Memo
Sign the Petition.
Help us protect everyone in Atlanta’s right to work in a smoke-free environment.
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