NIOSH Investigation Demonstrates Risk to Casino Dealers of Carcinogen Exposure from Secondhand Smoke at Work Casino dealers had increasing levels of a cigarette carcinogen in their urine over an 8-hour work shift This finding came from an evaluation done by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in response to a request from casino dealers at Bally’s, Paris, and Caesar’s Palace casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Employees who participated in the study were only selected if they did not use tobacco products, did not live with someone who smokes inside their home, or were not exposed to secondhand smoke in any setting other than their job at the casino.   Tobacco smoke components were also documented in the air surrounding the employees’ work space at the three casinos through air sampling. NIOSH recommended eliminating tobacco smoke from the casinos and implementing smoking cessation programs.

To read more about this NIOSH investigation, please see summary NIOSH Science Blog on this topic at:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/nsb061609_casino.html.

The entire report of the NIOSH evaluation may be found at:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2005-0201-3080.pdf