New Billboard Delivers Message: “No Ventilation is Enough,” Urges Wayne County Airport Authority to Halt Cigar Lounge Plans at DTW
Detroit, MI – A new billboard outside Detroit Metropolitan Airport is delivering a loud and clear message to travelers and decisionmakers alike: no ventilation system can eliminate the health risks of secondhand smoke.
The Keep DTW Smokefree coalition is calling on the Wayne County Airport Authority to halt plans to open a cigar lounge inside the McNamara Terminal. Despite overwhelming public opposition and sustained outcry from Detroit residents and advocates across the country, the proposal continues to move forward.
Airport officials have stated that a cigar lounge would include a ventilation system. But leading public health and engineering experts are clear: ventilation is not a solution.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the global authority on building ventilation standards, has concluded that no amount of ventilation, air cleaning, or separation can eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke. The only effective way to protect people is to prohibit smoking inside and near buildings.
“Airports should be safe, healthy environments for everyone: workers, travelers, and families,” said Minou Jones, chair of the Detroit Wayne Oakland Tobacco Free Coalition. “This billboard sends a simple, truthful message: you can’t engineer your way out of secondhand smoke. The only real solution is to keep DTW smokefree.”
Public health authorities have long reached the same conclusion. In 2006, the U.S. Surgeon General reported that eliminating indoor smoking is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers, and that separating smokers, cleaning the air, or ventilating buildings does not eliminate exposure.
Similarly, the World Health Organization has stated that the only effective way to reduce exposure to safe levels is to implement 100% smokefree environments. Ventilation and designated smoking areas, whether separately ventilated or not, do not provide adequate protection.
“Ventilation does not eliminate the health risks caused by secondhand smoke,” said Dr. A’Lynne Boles Dukes, former member of Lansing City Council and co-chair of the Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance. “There is broad consensus among public health authorities, scientists, and engineering experts that ventilation cannot prevent the disease and death caused by secondhand smoke exposure. If the Wayne County Airport Authority is serious about protecting workers and travelers, especially children, they should end this misguided plan.”
Under Michigan’s 2010 smoke-free air law, smoking is prohibited in most indoor public places. While exemptions exist for cigar bars and certain tobacco specialty venues, public health advocates warn that allowing such an exemption at a major international airport would set a dangerous precedent and undermine longstanding protections.
Cigar smoke poses significant health risks. A single large cigar can contain as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes and produces higher levels of tar and cancer-causing chemicals. The smoke lingers longer, travels farther, and exposes nearby workers and travelers to toxic particles linked to heart disease, lung disease, and cancer.
Coalition members and community advocates have repeatedly voiced their opposition through testimony at Airport Authority meetings, postcard campaigns, press events, and conducting public opinion polling showing 77% of Michigan voters oppose a cigar lounge at DTW.
“I’m a mother, a lifelong Detroiter, a public health advocate, a frequent flyer, a Delta Medallion member. I represent many voices, and none of them are asking for this,” said Minou Jones, chair of the Detroit Wayne Oakland Tobacco Free Coalition. “Detroit is better than this. The Wayne County Airport Authority can stop this today. Who will have the courage to stand up for our kids and say, ‘not on my watch’?”
Fast Facts:
Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals; hundreds are toxic and about 70 can cause cancer.
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can trigger asthma attacks and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Each year in Michigan, more than 1,700 nonsmokers die from secondhand smoke exposure.
ASHRAE states: “The only way to eliminate indoor tobacco smoke exposure is to prohibit all smoking activity inside and near buildings.” (ASHRAE Position Document on Environmental Tobacco Smoke)
The vast majority of travelers prefer smokefree environments (New Survey Finds Most Americans Oppose Smoking in Airports and Don’t Want Airports to Reverse Smoke Free Policies)
About the Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance
The Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance is a coalition of more than 120 public health, community organizations, school groups and other community groups advocating for stronger tobacco policy and prevention in Michigan. Learn more at KeepMIKidsTobaccoFree.com and KeepDTWsmokefree.com.
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