Clean Air
& Secondhand Smoke

It’s your right to breathe smoke-free, clean air in restaurants, workplaces and many public places. It’s also the law in Pennsylvania.

Tobacco Free Adagio Health

Secondhand smoke causes cancer and many other serious health ailments.

Environmental tobacco smoke is smoke that is inhaled involuntarily or passively by someone who is not smoking. Secondhand smoke is classified as a “known human carcinogen” (cancer-causing agent) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Cigarette smoke is a toxic mixture of more than 4,000 known chemical compounds. There is no safe level of exposure.

Hazards

  • Causes cancer: Secondhand smoke has more than 50 carcinogens; it causes lung cancer in non-smokers. About 3,400 deaths occur in the U.S. annually caused by lung cancer resulting from secondhand smoke.
  • Causes death: Secondhand smoke causes premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. More than 67,000 deaths annually in the U.S result from secondhand smoke exposure.
  • Causes asthma: Exposure of school-age children to secondhand smoke can cause asthma, cough, phlegm, wheezing and shortness of breath. It can also cause wheezing illnesses in early childhood.
  • Causes ear infections: Exposure of children to secondhand smoke can cause middle ear infections.
  • Causes SIDS: Smoking by women during pregnancy increases the risk for SIDS and infants who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are at an increased for SIDS.

Thirdhand Smoke

Thirdhand smoke is residual nicotine and other chemicals left on indoor surfaces by tobacco smoke. People are exposed to these chemicals by touching contaminated surfaces or breathing in the off-gassing from these surfaces. Source

Clean Indoor Air

It’s your right to breathe smoke-free, clean air in restaurants, workplaces and many public places. It’s also the law in Pennsylvania.

Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA)

Pennsylvania’s Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA) was signed into law in June, 2008 in an effort to reduce the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in public spaces and workplaces.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s study on tobacco usage, per capita cigarette sales in the Commonwealth declined by 15 packs between 2009 and 2016. A number of exemptions to the Act were carved out, including private social functions, private residences not licensed as childcare facilities, and up to half of casino gaming floors. Tobacco Free Adagio Health is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, local legislators, organizations, and coalitions throughout the Commonwealth to close these loopholes in the Clean Indoor Air Act in order to better protect the health of hospitality industry workers throughout the Commonwealth and to push for, develop, and implement comprehensive tobacco-free policies where people live, where they work, and where they play.

Tobacco Free Adagio Health also works with state health officials to educate the public on the importance of clean indoor air and impact of the CIAA on businesses and communities, and to enforce clean indoor air regulations to ensure that local area businesses are complying with the spirit and letter of the law.

Enforcement:

The Pennsylvania Department of Health enforces the law. In addition to the state Department of Health, two additional agencies assist in enforcement, the Bureau of Liquor Control enforcement (BLCE) and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

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