Regardless of Months of Public Outcry, Wayne County Airport Authority Releases Request for Cigar Lounge Proposals
Detroit, MI — This vacation season, greater than one million vacationers will move by means of the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). These vacationers might quickly face clouds of poisonous cigar smoke. Yesterday, the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) launched a Request for Proposals to construct a cigar lounge contained in the airport’s primary terminal, ignoring nearly 100 feedback and testimonies from public well being and staff’ rights advocates urging towards the choice.
“On prime of all the standard difficulties that include flying, vacationers will now should take care of the acute well being hazard of secondhand smoke publicity as they move by means of one of many busiest airports within the nation,” mentioned Cynthia Hallett, MPH, president and CEO of Individuals for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR). “To not point out, airport staff can be pressured to breathe in poisonous fumes simply to earn a residing — all as a result of the WCAA has the false hope of offering a brand new ‘amenity’ that the general public doesn’t need. Public well being officers, advocates, and anxious group members have testified and submitted numerous feedback over the previous 12 months asking WCAA to not launch the Request for Proposals, however they didn’t hear. It’s clear now that WCAA had no respect for public opinion or concern for public well being, and we’re extraordinarily upset to see that tens of millions of vacationers will now should face the implications.”
Introducing a cigar lounge to DTW would put airport workers and vacationers in direct contact with secondhand smoke. Even in nonsmoking areas, research in airports with smoking lounges persistently present elevated ranges of particulate matter (PM2.5), endangering the well being of each vacationers and workers.
The choice to open a cigar lounge in DTW goes towards public opinion and up to date tendencies. In a current survey of 600 individuals round Michigan, 77% of respondents mentioned they might not help a cigar lounge inside DTW. In 2023, DTW was ranked primary in buyer satisfaction amongst mega airports by J.D. Energy — by introducing a cigar lounge, WCAA dangers tarnishing its popularity and alienating vacationers, particularly as airports nationwide are eliminating smoking lounges and transferring towards total modernization to boost the passenger expertise.
Background
Tobacco use and secondhand smoke publicity kills practically 500,000 Individuals yearly. Secondhand smoke places adults who don’t smoke vulnerable to coronary coronary heart illness, stroke, and lung most cancers. In response to the CDC, “There isn’t a risk-free degree of secondhand smoke. Even temporary publicity could cause fast hurt.”
Research have persistently proven that publicity to secondhand smoke will increase the danger of coronary heart illness, lung most cancers, and respiratory diseases. Current analysis by the CDC has affirmed that prohibiting smoking all through the whole thing of an institution is the one efficient technique to defend staff from these harms.
Well being and engineering specialists overwhelmingly agree that there isn’t any protected degree of indoor smoking. Even the engineers who design air flow programs have mentioned, “At current, the one technique of successfully eliminating well being dangers related to indoor publicity is to ban smoking exercise… No different engineering approaches, together with present and superior dilution air flow or air cleansing applied sciences, have demonstrated or ought to be relied upon to regulate well being dangers from ETS [environmental tobacco smoke] publicity in areas the place smoking happens…”
The DTW proposals would additionally go towards current choices by airport authorities to remove smoking lounges from practically all airports throughout the nation. Lately, Washington Dulles Worldwide Airport up to date its coverage, asserting the everlasting closure of all smoking lounges. This follows the transition of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport to a very smokefree indoor surroundings. Solely 4 airports nonetheless enable some type of the apply.
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Individuals for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for practically 50 years, since 1976, to guard everybody’s proper to breathe unhazardous air in workplaces and public locations, from places of work and airplanes to eating places, bars, and casinos. ANR has repeatedly shined a light-weight on the tobacco business’s interference with sound and life-saving public well being measures and efficiently protected 61% of the inhabitants with native or statewide smokefree office, restaurant, and bar legal guidelines. ANR goals to shut gaps in smokefree protections for staff in all workplaces, together with bars, music venues, casinos, and accommodations. For extra info, please go to and https://smokefreecasinos.org.
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