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Push for smoking ban in Charleston eateries continues
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
The ongoing debate over whether Charleston should adopt a smoke-free ordinance lit up again briefly in June, when the Smokefree Lowcountry Coalition released a Medical University of South Carolina study concerning the air quality of restaurants and bars where smoking is permitted.
The study found that bars and restaurants where people light up have air pollution rates four times higher than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
MUSC researchers Cindy Carter and Matthew Carpenter conducted the study in which 64 Charleston County bars and restaurants were tested for air quality. In all venues—45 permitted smoking and 19 did not—air quality measurements were taken continuously with a small aerosol device for at least 30 minutes.
Bars and restaurants that allowed smoking had an average level of particulate matter, the amount of toxic or carcinogenic particles released from burning cigarettes, measuring 260. The EPA allows a maximum level of 65. The results were measured in micrograms per cubic meter.
“We see the results of this study as offering conclusive evidence that Charleston’s workers need, and deserve, smoke-free workplaces everywhere,” Carter said. “When you see workers exposed to pollution levels four times the EPA maximum-allowed level, that’s a patently unhealthy environment.”
The study follows a survey the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative released in February in which 70% of Charleston residents said they would support a city ordinance prohibiting smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.
Choice or legislation?
“Our position on the issue is that we have no position,” said David Miller, president of the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association and chief operations officer of The Kickin’ Chicken and T-Bonz Gill & Grill restaurants.
Even though the association has no official stance on the matter, Miller is leery of anti-smoking legislation.
“Most of our members recognize that smoking is a public health issue, but it’s also an issue of choice,” Miller added, noting that many restaurant workers and employers are themselves cigarette smokers.
Since January, Miller has spent about $15,000 on smoke filtration systems for his restaurants. He added that other restaurant owners in his association have made accommodations for non-smokers.
The Hospitality Association of South Carolina opposes a smoking ordinance, saying the matter should be left to individual businesses, according to Tom Sponseller, the association’s executive director.
Restaurant patrons and employees preferring smoke-free environments can eat and work in non-smoking eateries if they choose, Sponseller said.
The Tobacco Collaborative’s February poll, conducted by University of South Carolina researchers, found 90% of the 618 Charleston residents randomly selected for the survey would go out to restaurants and bars either about as often, or more frequently, than they currently do if Charleston passed a smoke-free ordinance.
Whether the anti-smoking surveys succeed in generating an anti-smoking ordinance in Charleston remains to be seen. Charleston City Council member Paul Tinkler presented the original ordinance three years ago and intends to present a slightly updated ordinance by August.
The new ordinance will include the survey findings and the latest studies concerning the dangers of second-hand smoke, Tinkler said.
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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