Interview Opportunities Available at Quebec City Meeting
Jump to full article: Business Wire, 2006-06-13
Intro: Are ventilation systems effective in removing harmful substances from environmental tobacco smoke?
That's a question likely to be asked by business owners and others as they look for ways to deal with the new indoor smoking ban in Quebec and Ontario.
The answer is no, according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). ASHRAE has determined that although complete separation and isolation of smoking rooms can control environmental tobacco smoke exposure in non-smoking spaces in the same building, adverse health effects for the occupants of smoking areas cannot be controlled by ventilation.
"No matter how good the system, unless you strap a filter on your nose, you still breathe the mixture in the room that contains secondhand smoke," said Larry Schoen, P.E., who helped write ASHRAE's Environmental Tobacco Smoke Position Document.
The document provides information on the health consequences of exposure of nonsmokers to tobacco smoke in indoor environments, and on the implications of this knowledge for the design, installation and operation of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
To obtain a free copy of the position document, visit http://www.ashrae.org/positiondocuments.
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