Environmental Toxins: New Air Systems Don't Clear Smoke

A recent study shows that ventilation systems used to clear cigarette smoke from bars and restaurants don't elimate soot and carcinogens and can even make smoke levels higher in nonsmoking sections that in smoking areas. Ventilation systems studies are few; this study looked at three restaurants and comes as Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio consider bans on smoking in public places.

Study: New air systems don't clear smoke

Two of the restaurants looked at in the study had claimed that their ventilation systems would comply with the city's smoke-free restaurant law. James Repace, a secondhand smoke expert and lead researcher in the study, said that evidence suggested that the ventilation systems were not working properly. "They've been heavily promoted by the tobacco industry" and the casino industry as a way to accommodate both smokers and nonsmokers, Repace said. "I don't think it is possible for somebody to come up with a system that works," he said. "You'd need tornado-like ventilation."