Restaurant employees are the occupational group most heavily exposed to secondhand smoke. The most heavily exposed restaurant workers breathe the equivalent of actively smoking 1.5 to 2 packs of cigarettes per day. Even with higher ventilation standards than most workplaces, the concentration of smoke in restaurants is 1.6 to 2.0 times greater than in typical workplaces. This unhealthy air takes its toll. The Surgeon General states that smoking sections reduce, but do not eliminate, nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke.
Air can move freely between smoking and nonsmoking sections, carrying smoke with it.
Even if the sections are physically separated, shared ventilation systems still carry smoke from room to room. Trying to segregate smoking in a restaurant is like trying to have a non-chlorinated section in a chlorinated pool. They are designed to remove the odor of smoke, but do not remove all of the disease-causing agents. Tobacco smoke contains many odorless chemicals and gases. Just because you cannot see or smell smoke does not mean you are not at risk.