Passive Smoking Control based on Public Health Laws in Japan

Introduction
Tobacco control laws in Japan :The law against passive smoking enforced in 2002 which prescribed only the obligation of the building owners to make a sincere effort to execute the passive smoking control inside their own buildings and in 2005 the FCTC was enacted.

Methods
The review of the law for the sanitation contrl inside the big buildings and the review of the discussion process of passive smoking control in the field of labor hygiene.

Results
Public health laws against passive smoking :From the viewpoint of public health in 1970 the law for the sanitation control inside the big buildings was enacted for the building owner to take a measurement of airborne particles. 60% of the values of the measurements were over the standard value set by the Government immediately after the enforcement of the law, but after 1975 the measurement values had dropped sharply. The reason of this drop has been supposed the spread of smoking control concept in the buildings and the developments of the air purification facilities. From the viewpoint of labor hygiene the regulation of the airborne particles in the offices was introduced in the same year. Now the discussion about the introduction of ventilation control in the labor hygiene has been active to prevent the passive smoking. Those regulations are supervised and compelled by the government officials and the violators could be punished according to the penal regulations.

Discussion
The passive smoking control by the specific law should be developed more and the ventilation control by the compulsory law in the labor hygiene is now discussing in Japan.