Testimony
	New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Office of Communications

Chairwoman Quinn and members of the Council, thank you for the opportunity to discuss this important legislation.

On March 25, 1911, not far from here, in lower Manhattan, a fire swept through the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. 146 workers, many of them immigrants, underpaid and working long hours, died tragically in the sweatshop fire. The public outcry that followed led New York to enact many of the first significant worker protection laws in the nation and served as model for the national Labor Standards Act.

You have an opportunity to enact legislation that can similarly serve as a national model for worker protection – protection from deadly secondhand smoke that disproportionately affects minority workers, underpaid and working long hours.

Every day, the Health Department registers the deaths of 25 New Yorkers who were killed by tobacco. About one out of every 10 people who die from tobacco die because of other people's smoke.

The evidence that second-hand smoke kills is clear and consistent. This evidence comes from studies of the chemicals in second-hand smoke, from animal studies, and from studies analyzing the health of hundreds of thousands of people. There is no scientific doubt about the matter.

• Second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease. Breathing even a little second-hand smoke changes the blood supply to the heart, changes the way the blood clots, and increases the risk of heart attack.
• Second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer. The more you inhale other people's smoke, the more likely you are to get lung cancer.
• Second-hand smoke worsens asthma and other lung diseases. Workplace exposure can increase the odds of asthma and chronic bronchitis two- and three-fold.
• Second-hand smoke increases the risk of low birth weight.

These aren't "theoretical" or minor risks. Approximately 1,000 New Yorkers will die prematurely this year because of involuntary smoking. An additional 40,000 New Yorkers will suffer illnesses brought on or worsened by second-hand smoke.

Second-hand smoke is an environmental poison. We recently tested the air in smoky bars and were amazed to find out just how polluted these workplaces are. Even with only 4 or 5 smokers present, in one minute, a bartender breathes as much pollution as you would standing for nearly an hour at the Holland Tunnel during rush hour. In less than two hours in a smoky bar, workers – and patrons – breathe in more pollution than allowed in a whole day under the proposed 24-hour EPA outdoor standard.

Our recent citywide health survey tells us that more than 400,000 non-smoking New York City residents are exposed to second-hand smoke all or most of the time at their workplaces. Second-hand smoke is an occupational hazard whether you are a waiter or a secretary, a bartender or a banker. African-Americans, Latinos and Latinas, and those with low incomes are twice as likely to have to breathe second-hand smoke on the job.

Owners don't have the right to expose workers to the hazardous chemicals in second-hand smoke. The fundamental principle of worker safety is that workers should not have to choose between their health and their jobs.

Restaurant and bar owners will say that this legislation will hurt their business. This is not true. In this very chamber the same thing was said in 1994, when your predecessors passed legislation that made most restaurants smoke free. Opponents said restaurants would "lose up to a quarter of their business". What happened? Sales increased. They said that the law would "cost this city 11,000 jobs." What happened? We gained 19,000 jobs. They said tourists would "steer clear" of New York City. What happened? Tourism boomed. The fact is – going smoke-free doesn't hurt business. Even Phillip Morris, in an internal document, admitted – and I quote – "…the economic arguments often used by the industry to scare off smoking ban activity were no longer working…These arguments simply had no credibility with the public, which isn't surprising when you consider that our dire predictions in the past rarely came true." Objective studies from around the country, including from New York City, show that smoke-free workplace laws don't hurt business. In our next panel, you will hear data showing that after the 1995 statute, restaurant business improved in each of New York City's boroughs. This isn't surprising – four out of five New Yorkers don't smoke.

We anticipated that although the public health benefits are compelling, economic concerns about tourism, restaurants, and bars would be raised. That's why we surveyed tour operators in the top 8 countries New York City tourists come from. Not a single tour operator reported even a single client change their travel plans based on a city's smoking policies. Analysis of Department of Commerce data also shows absolutely no relationship between cities' smoke-free policies and international tourism. In California, after bars went smoke-free, they gained market share in eating and drinking revenues.

There may be suggestions that ventilation systems can eliminate the hazards of second-hand smoke. Such a system would have to exhaust the air outside the building, create negative pressure to draw contaminated air out, then heat or cool clean air that is pumped back into the room. Installing and maintaining this type of system is impractical and prohibitively expensive and could hurt our economy. Even the tobacco industry is careful not to claim that ventilation systems will prevent disease caused by second-hand smoke.

Big tobacco will try to cast doubt on how harmful second-hand smoke is. They'll claim that the economic sky will fall if this legislation is passed. They'll claim that ventilation systems are an acceptable alternative. They'll try to discredit, delay, and derail this legislation.

Three simple facts make the case for this bill overwhelming. First, second-hand smoke kills. Second, closing loopholes in the current law will save more than 10,000 lives. Third, making workplaces smoke-free won't hurt business. I am confident that you will act to ensure that no worker in New York City has to risk illness and death from second-hand smoke just to hold a job.

400,000 non-smokers in New York City are second-hand smokers in their own workplaces. As you consider this legislation, don't forget these New Yorkers. Their lives are in your hands. Every day, they breathe other people's smoke at work and risk illness and death. But every one of them can stop second-hand smoking. All you have to do is pass this legislation.

Thank you.