Irish pubs abroad 13 times more polluted than here

Irish Independent; Mar 17, 2006

Eilish O’Regan

Health Correspondent

THE smoking ban introduced two years ago has led to a dramatic
reduction in levels of indoor pollution in pubs here, a new global
study revealed yesterday.

It examined 128 traditional Irish pubs in 15 countries throughout
Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

It confirmed that air pollution levels from secondhand smoke were
now 91pc less in the pubs located in the Republic than similar
establishments in countries and cities without a ban.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health looked at bars in
Dublin, Cork and Galway.

The study, co-authored by Galway’s principal environmental health
officer Maurice Mulcahy, found the highest level of pollution in an
Irish themed bar in Lyon in France.

Testing sites included 41 smoke-free Irish pubs in Ireland, the US
and Canada, and 87 smoking-permitted Irish pubs located in Armenia,
Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Greece, France, Lebanon, Northern
Ireland, Poland, Romania, US and England.

Irish pubs were defined as those that served Irish beer on tap and
had an Irish name.

Mr Mulcahy said: “The Irish pubs in London, Manchester, Belfast
and Newry were 13 times more polluted than those in Galway, Dublin,
Cork and Ennis.

“The results are dramatic. For example, in Galway the levels of the
small particles measured in pubs averaged 18 whereas these were 353
in Belfast, 400 in Newry and 296 in London.

“The highest recorded levels were in Lyon where a figure of 1,051 was
recorded, some 37 times more polluted than the average level recorded
in pubs in the Republic of Ireland.”

High levels were also measured in Irish pubs in Hoboken (New Jersey);
Charleroi, Belgium; Athens, Greece; Beirut, Lebanon and Torun, Poland.