BMC Public Health 2006, 6:42 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/42 paid campaign director of NW ASH at the time of the study. All other authors have no competing interests to declare. Authors' contributions All authors contributed to developing the original idea for the study and the study protocol. Data collection was car- ried out principally by CPH, KH, CP and RH with addi- tional help from the other authors. The dataset for analysis was prepared by RE, CPH and AFRW. Analysis was carried out mainly by RE with additional suggestions from AFRW and MvT. The paper was drafted by RE. All authors contributed comments on the first and subse- quent drafts, and approved the final version for submis- sion. RE is the guarantor of the study. Acknowledgements Thanks to Andy Hyland and Mark Travers of the Roswell Park Cancer Insti- tute, Buffalo for providing the equipment for the study, access to their data collection protocol, and providing training in measuring particulates in pubs using the SidePak monitor. References 1. International Agency on Research on Cancer: Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking Lyon: International Agency on Research on Can- cer; 2004. 2. Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health: Report of the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health London: The Stationery Office; 1998. 3. Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians: Going smoke-free: the medical case for clean air in the home, at work and in pub- lic places London: Royal College of Physicians of London; 2005. 4. Department of Health: Choosing health: making healthier choices easier London: Stationary Office; 2004. 5. Jarvis M: Quantitative survey of exposures to other people's smoke in Lon- don bar staff London: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London; 2001. 6. Jarvis MJ, Foulds J, Feyerabend C: Exposure to passive smoking among bar staff. BrJAddict 1992, 87(1):111-113. 7. Siegel M, Skeer M: Exposure to secondhand smoke and excess lung cancer mortality risk among workers in the "5B's": bars, bowling alleys, billiard halls, betting establishments, and bingo parlours. Tobacco Control 2003, 12:333-338. 8. Tocque K, Edwards R, Fullard B: The impact of partial smokefree legislation on health inequalities? Evidence from a survey of 1150 pubs in North West England. BMC Public Health 2005, 5:91. 9. Woodall A, Sandbach E, Woodward C, Aveyard P, Merrington G: The partial smoking ban in licensed establishments and health inequalities in England: modelling study. British Medical Journal 2005, 331:488-489. 10. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: The English Indices of Deprivation 2004: Summary (revised) London: The Stationery Office; 2004. 11. Travers M, Cummings KM, Hyland A, Repace J, Pechacek TF, Cara- ballo R, Babb S: Indoor air quality in hospitality venues before and after the implementation of a Clean Indoor Air Law – Western New York, 2003. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2004, 53(44):1038-1041. 12. Repace J: Respirable particles and carcinogens in the air of Delaware hospitality venues before and after a smoking ban. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine 2004, 46:887-905. 13. UK National Air Quality Archive [http://www.airquality.co.uk/ archive/] 14. National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) [http:// www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html] 15. National Ambient Air Quality Index [http://airnow.gov/ index.cfm?action=static.aqi] 16. Fichtenberg CM, Glantz SA: Effect of smoke-free workplaces on smoking behaviour: systematic review. BMJ 2002, 325:188-194. Pre-publication history The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/42/prepub Publish with Bio Med Central and every scientist can read your work free of charge "BioMed Central will be the most significant development for disseminating the results of biomedical research in our lifetime." Sir Paul Nurse, Cancer Research UK Your research papers will be: available free of charge to the entire biomedical community peer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptance cited in PubMed and archived on PubMed Central yours — you keep the copyright Submit your manuscript here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/publishing_adv.asp BioMedcentral Page 6 of 6 (page number not for citation purposes)