In a joint statement, the various organisations, joined by
the hotel, tourism, restaurant and similar industry workers' union in the
North, point out that "no air renewal/extraction, ventilation or
compartmentalization/separation of spaces is effective to eliminate tobacco
smoke and/or ensure indoor air quality".
"The science is clear that ventilation systems, smoking
rooms and smoking areas/sections do not protect against the health hazards
caused by secondhand smoke. The only known way to reduce the risks associated
with secondhand smoke is with 100% smoke free environments", insists the
group of organizations, which integrates the Portuguese societies of dentistry
and occupational medicine.
Also signed by patient associations such as Respira and the
Ordem dos Farmacêuticos, as well as by Brazilian and Spanish organizations, the
statement calls on the owners and managers of these spaces to become “totally
free of tobacco smoke and aerosols from electronic devices”.
"This exposure is harmful from the point of view of
promoting and protecting health, not only due to the potentially present smoke,
but also because it normalizes and promotes the consumption of tobacco and
electronic nicotine devices", say the organizations.
In the note released today, the Portuguese Society of
Pneumology also appeals to the Portuguese population not to frequent spaces
that could provide the presence of tobacco smoke or aerosols from electronic
cigarettes and to "exercise their right and duty of citizenship, expressing
their displeasure at living with such situations in spaces that they would like
to frequent as smoke-free".
They also call for the reporting of cases of violations of the tobacco smoke protection law.
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