Tobacco.org

• U researcher: Study shows smoking ban reduces risk 

Proponents of the statewide smoking ban that went into effect in October argued for it in part because they said it would reduce health risks for the people who are the most exposed to second-hand smoke -- the 176,000 bartenders, waiters and waitresses who work in the state's hospitality industry. Now, a tobacco researcher from the University of Minnesota says she's proved it.

The study: Dr. Dorothy Hatsukami, who heads the university's tobacco research center, recruited 24 nonsmokers from around the state who worked at bars, restaurants and bowling alleys that permitted smoking. Before the ban went into effect, she tested their urine for nicotine and a carcinogen. Then she tested them again after the ban. The study will be submitted for publication in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

The results: On average, the levels of nicotine and the carcinogen dropped by more than 80 percent, she found in results that will be made public today. "It may seem very obvious," she said. "But the implications are that [the ban] really works. It is protecting our workers from cancer-causing agents."

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