| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Gambling Establishment Staff Suffer from Smoking
- Thursday, 25 May 2006
A five-year-long study conducted by several Las Vegas gambling establishments and the University of Nevada has concluded that there is a direct link between exposure to second-hand smoke in the workplace and damage to employees' DNA. The survey has given weight to the anti-smoking lobby, who say that staff in gambling halls are exposed to up to four times more second-hand smoke than people employed outside the gambling industry.
The University of Nevada study, which featured 125 non-smoking employees in the gambling industry, was funded by a $2.5 million grant received from the National Institute of Health. The participants – of which are employed in gambling establishments in northern and southern Nevada – reported regularly experiencing a range of health problems commonly associated with second-hand smoking. When asked to indicate support for a smoking ban at the state’s gambling establishments, an overwhelming majority were in favour.
In response to these findings, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, said that although gambling establishments have many smoking patrons, the health of their non-smoking customers and employees should be their first priority. Fahrenkopf also said that many gambling facilities invest large sums of money in air conditioning units and ventilation systems in an attempt to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers.
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