Effect of the smoking free work places ban law on the exposition to second hand smoke of employees in the hospitality industry in Puerto Rico

Objective: Determine the effect of the Smoke Free Work Places Ban in Puerto Rico on the exposition to second-hand smoke (SHS) of the employees in the hospitality industry. Methods: Levels of indoor concentration of fine (<2.5 mg diameter,PM2.5) particulate matter were measured in a random and representative sample of 74 establishments (restaurants, bars, pubs, discos, and casinos) in the metropolitan area of San Juan before and after the introduction of the law banning smoking in March of 2007. Measurements were taken using a SidePack AM 510 Aerosol Monitor. Another sample of 22 casino employees were recruited to measure the exposition to SHS. Casino employees were interview about their exposition to SHS in their workplace and saliva samples were collected for the detection of cotinine levels before and after the introduction of the law. Results: Paired data statistical analysis show a significant decrease in the average level of salivary cotinine for the non-smoking casino employees from 1.137 ng/ml to .554 ng/ml (p= 0.0009). This represents a 46.8% reduction in cotinine levels between pre law and post law levels. Similarly, preliminary statistical analysis on the establishment sample data shows a significant 87.9% reduction in the PM2.5 levels from .213 mg/m3 to .025 mg/m3 (p=.0083). Conclusion: Reductions in fine particulate matter and salivary cotinine levels confirmed that the introduction of the Smoke Free Work Places Ban led to a significant reduction in the exposure to indoor SHS for employees working in the hospitality industry of the metropolitan area of San Juan.