Study: Secondhand smoke damages casino employees' DNA
16 May 2006
After a five-year-long study conducted by several Las Vegas casinos and the Reno campus of the University of Nevada, it was finally concluded that there is a direct link between exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace and damage to employees' DNA. Chris Pristos, chairman of the nutrition department at UNR, was reported as saying that the more people were exposed to tobacco smoke, the higher the risks were of getting a heart disease or cancer.
The clinical trial was funded by a $2.5 million grant received from the National Institutes of Health. It followed as many 125 nonsmoking casino employees in northern and southern Nevada. According to Pristos, casino workers are exposed to four times the amount of secondhand cigarette smoke than people working outside the gambling industry.
In response to these findings, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, said that, although casinos have many smoking patrons, the health of their nonsmoking customers and employees is their first priority. Fahrenkopf also reportedly said that casino facilities invested large sums of money in air conditioners and ventilation systems in an attempt to accommodate both smokers and nonsmokers.
Source: Authorized Online Casinos News Staff
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