Air in state casinos is clearing up

Just a few months ago Colorado casinos were home to clouds of toxic gas, where 250 poisonous chemicals in the bluish smoke threatened the health of everyone in the place.

After a Jan. 1 smoking ban took effect, the people playing those slot machines might as well be hiking in the fresh Rocky Mountain air, at least when it comes to what they breathe.

Less than two months after the law forced casino customers to snuff out cigarettes at the door, the indoor air quality has improved by 92 percent, according to the State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership, based at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The study used a device that measured fine particles in the air before and after the smoking ban took effect.

The ban was enacted to protect employees from being exposed to secondhand smoke. It took effect for bars and restaurants in 2006 and was expanded to include casinos beginning Jan. 1.

Secondhand smoke exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmokers, increasing their chances of those illnesses by up to 30 percent.

The law was enacted mostly to create a healthier workplace for casino employees, not protect smoking gamblers from themselves.

The air went from “unhealthy” to “good” under an Environmental Protection Agency rating system. Good is the highest rating possible, in which pollution poses little or no risk. Unhealthy means everyone in the room may experience health problems, especially those with breathing problems such as asthma.

An unhealthy rating is issued for Denver’s outdoor air on a bad day. Carsten Baumann, program evaluator for the state Health Department’s prevention services division, said an example of unhealthy air might be the haze caused by the 2002 Hayman fire.

Richard Wenschlag, chief executive officer of three Cripple Creek casinos, said he was not surprised to hear air-quality improved sharply. “Obviously, it’s very noticeable that there’s no smoke in the casinos.”

But those deep breaths of fresh air have come at a price, Wenschlag said. Revenue was down 9 percent in January, which he blames partly on the ban. “I do know it’s had a very drastic effect on us.”

Although he’s received some compliments about the cigarette smoke-free air, they’ve been outweighed by criticism from people “out in the freezing cold smoking a cigarette.”

He’s hoping news of the clean air will coax nonsmoking newcomers to his casinos, the Brass Ass, Midnight Rose and JP McGills. “Do us a favor and everybody come and smell it,” he said about the cleaner air.

Bronco Billy’s General Manager Mike Chaput said his casino’s revenue has suffered, too, which he says is mostly because of the ban. Although the air is cleaner for employees, as the law was intended, they probably aren’t paying much attention as they watch their pay shrink.

“The employees have been hit probably the hardest,” he said.

A similar study was conducted in 2006, when the smoking ban took effect for bars and restaurants. The air in bars improved by 90.3 percent. Before the ban, about 15 percent of bars and taverns had air that was hazardous, the worst possible.

The air in bars, restaurants and family entertainment venues improved, overall, by 70 percent.

The devices, known as personal aerosol monitors, and the EPA ratings focus on air particles smaller than 2.5 microns, or millionths of a meter, suspended in a cubic meter of air.

These tiny particles are considered some of the most harmful in the air, because their small size allows them to bypass bodily defenses and go deepest into the lungs. They are associated with heart and lung disease, and terminal illnesses.

The study looked at air quality in two Cripple Creek casinos and two Black Hawk/Central City casinos and their nonsmoking restaurants. Although the air was not monitored on corresponding days, samples were taken at the same time of day.

The study did not name the businesses tested to protect their privacy.

The casinos’ nonsmoking restaurants saw similar improvement, 90 percent, and went from unhealthy to good.