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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 16, 2024 04:16 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Tarik Khan and Rep. Timothy R. Bonner |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Protecting Healthcare Workers from Surgical Smoke |
| In the near future, we will introduce legislation to help secure a smoke-free environment for Pennsylvania’s healthcare workers and patients. Our bill will ensure that operating rooms utilize surgical smoke evacuation systems to combat the adverse health effects of surgical smoke. High-heat electrical tools such as lasers or electrosurgical devices create surgical smoke as they dissect and cauterize tissue during surgery. In addition to the noxious odor of this unsanitary smoke and the fact that it can obscure one’s view of the surgical site, surgical smoke can have harmful health effects on workers exposed to it. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has found that surgical smoke may contain toxic gasses, viruses, and bacteria, as well as more than 150 hazardous chemicals, and that burning 1 gram of tissue has the same effect as breathing in 3-6 cigarettes. Another study revealed that one day’s exposure to surgical smoke was the equivalent of inhaling the smoke of 27-30 cigarettes. And, according to the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, research has shown the presence of viruses (e.g., human papillomavirus) in surgical smoke with documented transmission to healthcare providers. Currently, 17 states have already enacted legislation protecting healthcare workers from surgical smoke, and our legislation mirrors bills passed in other states to mitigate surgical smoke. Our bill will help safeguard our invaluable operating room workers and provide our communities with additional support to reduce the spread of illness. Please join us in co-sponsoring this commonsense legislation to create smoke-free operating rooms for Pennsylvania’s patients and healthcare workers. |
Introduced as HB27
Memo Updated: December 16, 2024 04:17 PM