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Among California’s hospitality venues, casinos present a special challenge for tobacco control efforts. Smoking bans and restrictions provided in CA Labor Code Section 6404.5 do not apply, because California’s casinos are located on sovereign tribal land. This makes casinos one of the last public indoor spaces in California where smoking is still allowed. ETR Associates’ California’s Clean Air Project has made many significant inroads with tribal entities in California and has worked particularly closely with Win-River Casino of the Redding Rancheria Sovereign Nation in Northern California on tobacco control efforts. As a result of these collaborative efforts, the Casino management, with support from the tribal council, has decided to work toward California’s first 100% smoke-free casino by the end of 2013.
Research on the chemical and physical properties of tobacco smoke constituents has demonstrated that indoor environments with years of daily, around-the-clock smoking, such as casinos, become reservoirs of tobacco smoke toxicants. Also known as aged tobacco smoke, this mixture of persistent tobacco smoke toxicants is referred to as thirdhand smoke (THS) and consists of secondhand smoke (SHS) compounds that adsorbed, deposited, and accumulated in dust and on surfaces and have undergone further chemical reactions to create novel secondary pollutants. THS may lead to the involuntary exposure of nonsmokers through dermal transfer, inhalation, or ingestion long after the last cigarette has been smoked. Among the compounds identified in THS are markers of tobacco smoke (e.g., nicotine), tobacco-specific carcinogen (e.g., NNA, NNK, NNL), other human carcinogens (e.g., PAHs), irritants, and other toxicants.
The proposed study combines the expertise and success of ETR Among California’s hospitality venues, casinos present a special challenge for tobacco control efforts. Smoking bans and restrictions provided in CA Labor Code Section 6404.5 do not apply, because California’s casinos are located on sovereign tribal land. This makes casinos one of the last public indoor spaces in California where smoking is still allowed. ETR Associates’ California’s Clean Air Project has made many significant inroads with tribal entities in California and has worked particularly closely with Win-River Casino of the Redding Rancheria Sovereign Nation in Northern California on tobacco control efforts. As a result of these collaborative efforts, the Casino management, with support from the tribal council, has decided to work toward California’s first 100% smoke-free casino by the end of 2013.
Research on the chemical and physical properties of tobacco smoke constituents has demonstrated that indoor environments with years of daily, around-the-clock smoking, such as casinos, become reservoirs of tobacco smoke toxicants. Also known as aged tobacco smoke, this mixture of persistent tobacco smoke toxicants is referred to as thirdhand smoke (THS) and consists of secondhand smoke (SHS) compounds that adsorbed, deposited, and accumulated in dust and on surfaces and have undergone further chemical reactions to create novel secondary pollutants. THS may lead to the involuntary exposure of nonsmokers through dermal transfer, inhalation, or ingestion long after the last cigarette has been smoked. Among the compounds identified in THS are markers of tobacco smoke (e.g., nicotine), tobacco-specific carcinogen (e.g., NNA, NNK, NNL), other human carcinogens (e.g., PAHs), irritants, and other toxicants.
The proposed study combines the expertise and success of ETR Associates with tobacco control efforts in tribal casinos and the expertise of the SDSU based research group with THS to advance the science of THS and policy research on protecting nonsmokers from exposure to THS in casino environments. Win-River Casino’s focus on becoming 100% smoke-free provides a unique field setting for studying the chemistry of aging tobacco smoke, the persistence of THS, the interaction of THS with environmental oxidants to create secondary pollutants, and human exposure to THS pollutants. Equally important, the casino’s commitment to become California’s first 100% smoke-free casino presents an unprecedented opportunity to study its impact on patronage, revenue, satisfaction with and attitudes toward casino smoking bans.
Using a multiple baseline, multiple posttest repeated measures research design, we will measure tobacco smoke pollutants found in SHS and THS, human exposure to these pollutants, and casino patronage and revenue before and after the casino implements the 100% smoking ban. Over a two-year period, measurements will be taken during eleven visits to address the following specific aims.
Aim 1. Measure the change and persistence of tobacco smoke pollutants in the casino’s air, on surfaces, and in dust before and after the casino implements the 100% smoking ban.
Aim 2. Determine the change in human exposure to tobacco smoke pollutants before and after the casino implements the 100% smoking ban.
Aim 3. Investigate changes in patronage, revenue, satisfaction with and attitudes toward casino smoking bans.
This will be the first study to collaborate with a tribal casino to investigate changes in tobacco smoke pollution, the persistence of THS, human exposure, and casino patronage and revenue associated with changing a smoking casino to a 100% smoke-free casino. This study will shed new light on the chemical aging of tobacco smoke pollutants in a field setting with continued human activity, including the presence of casino workers and patrons, environmental sources of oxidants, naturally climate and indoor AC and ventilation field conditions. Finally, the scientific evidence generated by this study may be used as a policy tool to encourage tribal and nontribal entities to enact 100% smoke-free policies to protect nonsmoking patrons and employees from the known harmful effects of tobacco smoke exposure. |
