ONE IN FIVE children in Cyprus today could die of smoking-related conditions if smoking is not banned from all public places, a top public health expert warned yesterday.
The all-out ban should include bars, caf?s, nightclubs and restaurants, where potentially lethal second-hand smoke particles are as much as 40 times the recommended limit.
“Based on current smoking rates among Cyprus teenagers, if nothing changes we can expect 50,000 Cyprus children to die prematurely from cigarettes,” said Dr Gregory Connolly. This also includes passive smoke, he explained.
The Harvard School of Public Health professor was in Cyprus yesterday to present the results of a study on ‘Indoor Air Pollution of Hospitality Venues in Cyprus’. The research was carried out by the Cyprus International Institute (CII) for the Environment and Public Health in Association with the Harvard School of Public Health.
“By banning smoking in public places, you’re really establishing an environment where there is no smoking and children will not smoke. Children do what adults do,” said Connolly.
“Of all children alive in Cyprus under the age of 20, 50,000 will die. That’s effectively one in five. And it’s urgent that legislators act today so that Cyprus is smoke free and that the health of these children is protected.”
Connolly said smoking was public health enemy number one.
“By not addressing this problem, [the state] is turning its back on children and the people who don’t smoke,” Connolly said.
Although Cyprus recently updated its indoor smoking legislation, day-to-day compliance with the law has been next to nil, resulting in extremely high exposure to second hand smoke, he said.
“The law is a joke. The residents of Cyprus are not being protected from cancer-causing chemicals,” said Connolly.
He said Cyprus had the worst ever recorded results of indoor cigarette smoke pollution, potentially threatening the lives of workers and patrons of public venues.
“Of the 15 countries ever recorded by the Harvard School of Public Health, Cyprus possibly has the worst results of indoor air pollution from second hand smoke, posing a significant risk to workers and kids,” Connolly said.
Other countries assessed by the university’s researchers include Ireland, France, Italy and Norway.
Connolly said levels of particulate matter less than 2.5µm in diameter (PM2.5) had been measured as correlates to the level of second hand smoke in hospitality venues in the districts of Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos. The particles, referred to as ‘fine particles’, are released in large quantities from burning cigarettes. The sampled levels of PM2.5 were then compared to standardised levels of clean indoor air with low pollution.
The research also studied whether venues implemented and enforced indoor air pollution laws. In the majority of samples cited, the law was not being enforced, dramatically increasing public health risks for the general public and most notably for workers in the hospitality industry.
Research fellow Martha Kehagias explained that particulate matter was a type of matter suspended in the air, but that could be breathed in.
“Long-term exposure can cause lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory ailments.
Short-term exposure can cause asthma attacks and heart attacks,” she said.
Asked whether long-term exposure included going to any number of the island’s coffee shops for one hour after work every day for a month, Kehagias said yes.
“We can’t say that if you go for coffee every day you are definitely going to get lung cancer, but it does increase the risks,” she said.
Connolly said last year’s introduction of non-smoking sections at hospitality venues across the island was ineffective as they still recorded elevated PM2.5 levels.
“Non-smoking sections are like having peeing sections in a swimming pool. It doesn’t work,” he said.
The only group that benefitted from non-smoking and smoking sections in public venues was the tobacco industry, Connolly said.
“There should be total smoking bans. It is virtually impossible to enforce partial smoking bans” and is a waste of police resources, he added.
Furthermore in all the smoking venues, the level of PM2.5 exceeded the US Environmental and Protection agency’s 24-hour average standard of 35µm/m3 by an average 10 times and were eight times greater than recommended by the EU. The worst measurements were as much as 40 times higher than the standard.
The highest level of PM2.5 was found in a basement level nightclub where the average level exceeded 1,400µm/m3 and many recorded data points exceeded 2,000µm/m3 and even a few exceeded 3,000µm/m3.
The second highest level was at an internet caf? where the average level was 841µm/m3. This site was sampled on a Saturday afternoon, illustrating that levels of second hand smoke can be extremely high even during daylight hours.
places with large volumes and few lit cigarettes also had levels of PM2.5 higher than sanctioned standards.
“Even readings from the most polluted streets in Nicosia had lower levels PM2.5 of than in smoky hospitality venues,” he said.
Connolly said the universal trend was to go smoke-free.
“Unfortunately, Cyprus is not going that way. The best thing to do is to ban smoke in all public places, bars, restaurants and work places. It’s been done in France and Italy, it can be done here and should be done,” he said.
“The majority of Cypriots don’t smoke, the majority of Cypriots deserve smoke free environments.”
Blaming cultural problems for failure to implement a ban was a weak argument. He said Ireland had a huge pub culture where heavy smoking and drinking had been popular and yet Ireland was now smoke-free.
“They had a culture of smoking in pubs that was much greater than in Cyprus,” he said.
Connolly warned that there was a clear association between smoking and the level of indoor air pollution in hospitality venues in Cyprus and said non-smokers had to be protected.
“The Health Minister needs to take action. He should choose a date, large signs should be put up in venues that it’s going to happen and then it should be enforced.
There is no reason why Cyprus can’t do what Ireland and France have done,” he concluded.
There were no government representative’s at yesterday’s news conference, and the Health Minister’s absence was particularly conspicuous. Only two police officers sat in the second row, clearly disturbed.
