Clear skies and grey areas: flight attendants' secondhand smoke exposure and attitudes toward smoke-free policy 25 years since smoking was banned on airplanes

Details

• Personal Author:
  Navas-Acien A ; Soong A ; Stillman FA ; Zheng LY
• Description:
  Our objective was to provide descriptive data on flight attendant secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in the work environment, and to examine attitudes toward SHS exposure, personal health, and smoke-free policy in the workplace and public places. Flight attendants completed a web-based survey of self-reported SHS exposure and air quality in the work environment. We assessed the frequency and duration of SHS exposure in distinct areas of the workplace, attitudes toward SHS exposure and its health effects, and attitudes toward smoke-free policy in the workplace as well as general public places. A total of 723 flight attendants participated in the survey, and 591 responded to all survey questions. The mean level of exposure per flight attendant over the past month was 249 min. The majority of participants reported being exposed to SHS always/often in outdoor areas of an airport (57.7%). Participants who worked before the in-flight smoking ban (n=240) were more likely to support further smoking policies in airports compared to participants who were employed after the ban (n=346) (76.7% versus 60.4%, p-value<0.01). Flight attendants are still being exposed to SHS in the workplace, sometimes at concerning levels during the non-flight portions of their travel. Flight attendants favor smoke-free policies and want to see further restrictions in airports and public places. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aircraft Occupational Health Public Health Safety Smoke Smokers Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  Aircrews Author Keywords: Environmental Health Cigarette Smoking Flight Attendants Flight Personnel Occupational Health Policy Public Health Public Health Policy Secondhand Smoke Tobacco Smoke Travel

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• ISSN:
  1660-4601
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  12
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047772
• Citation:
  Int J Environ Res Public Health 2015 Jun; 12(6):6378-6387
• Contact Point Address:
  Frances A. Stillman, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
• Email:
  fstillm1@jhu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e2c9d550a4ba4206737cd598eb5fbc12cacd512e177b912fb2f0796892927ddba7a1706353e2372e84506df4cd0fd7f84005cdc067e2aeb9f159c24190b5977d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202755/cdc_202755_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 314.51 KB ]