For casino workers, study accents hazard of secondhand smoke

John Curran

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

For casino worker Joan Zarych, there's no escaping the smoke. It surrounds her at work, it follows her home on her clothing, it aggravates the asthma she says she got from working around cigarette-smoking gamblers for 20 years.

Whenever she gets a break, she hits the Boardwalk for a breath of fresh air.

But for much of her eight-hour shift as a table games supervisor in Atlantic City, she's stuck overseeing craps tables, roulette wheels and blackjack tables where the smoke from cigars and cigarettes hovers like an unwanted guest.

Zarych, 45, would like to quit her $50,000-a-year job, but she has two young daughters to support. She can't.

"When I went to school to be a casino dealer, I didn't know it would damage my health. No one said I'd have to put up with people blowing smoke in my face. That wasn't part of the job description at all," Zarych said.

Zarych and other casino employees blame respiratory problems on their work environment. A recent study underscored just how hazardous that environment can be.

According to the study, published last month in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the air in bars and casinos can have up to 50 times more cancer-causing particles than the air on rush-hour highways.

The study, by biophysicist James Repace, found that casino and bar workers are exposed to particulate pollution at far greater levels than the government allows outdoors.

It wasn't the first scientific study that focused on the problem.

A 1996 study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that casino workers are at greater risk for lung and heart disease because of secondhand smoke.

In that study, researchers sampled the urine and blood of 29 nonsmoking dealers and supervisors at Bally's Atlantic City casino, concluding that workers exposed to smoke had substantially higher levels of serum cotinine -- a chemical formed by the body's metabolism of nicotine -- than those in a comparison group who didn't work there.

While smoking bans protect many U.S. workers, those who deal cards and serve drinks in casinos get no relief. Many gamblers like to smoke and casinos don't want to alienate them by banning smoking.

Some Atlantic City casinos maintain no-smoking slot areas and table games, but most have no restrictions on lighting up.

"We've been trying to get help in the casinos for years," said Zarych, one of four Atlantic City casino employees to unsuccessfully sue tobacco companies in 1998. "It gets squashed. I've tried to hire lawyers, but the tobacco industry and the casino industry, they're too strong."

Casinos, for their part, would rather not have to choose between respecting smokers or respecting non-smokers.

"From the industry's perspective, we are not pro- or anti-smoking," said Naomi Greer, a spokeswoman for the American Gaming Association, the casino industry's national lobbying organization.

"It would be easier for us if nobody chose to smoke, but the reality is that many of our customers do. We are confident our members are taking the steps necessary to help ensure the health and comfort of all our customers as well as our employees," Greer said.

Last year, a measure that would have banned smoking in public places in New Jersey was amended to exempt bars and casinos before being gutted. A bill has been introduced again this year, but it already contains an exemption for casinos.

"The prevailing wisdom is that smokers are more prevalent amongst casino patrons than amongst the population at large," said Michael Pollock, publisher of the Gaming Industry Observer, an Atlantic City casino industry newsletter. "But you'll see less and less opposition as competitors to casinos -- other gaming venues or other entertainment venues -- go nonsmoking. Casinos don't want to be put at a competitive disadvantage."

Nevada, meanwhile, is facing two petitions by opposing interests on the smoking issue. One petition is backed by gambling interests and asks voters to maintain smoking in areas with gaming, such as casinos, grocery stores and convenience stores, while requiring restaurants to have non-smoking areas for youth. The other petition, backed by anti-smoking groups, would ban smoking in bars that primarily serve food as well as convenience stores and grocery stores but would allow smoking in casinos and taverns.

If the petitions gather enough signatures they will transfer to the Legislature, which will have 40 days to enact legislation. If they fail to act, the petitions would be put to a general vote in 2006.