A study released Tuesday by the Dodge County Tobacco-Free Coalition says that Beaver Dam bars and restaurants which allow smoking have 'hazardous' and 'unhealthy' levels of air.

Opponents of potential smoke-free legislation, however, disagree.

They say that independent studies and findings by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration indicate that second-hand smoke does not rise above permissible exposure limits.

The study is at the center of the latest battle between smoke-free advocates and the tavern and restaurant industries.

The tug-of-war could become more contentious in the coming months as the State Legislature considers readdressing the issue of a state-wide smoking ban in 2009.

On Oct. 24, volunteers with the tobacco-free coalition tested air quality in four eating and drinking establishments in Beaver Dam and compared the levels of fine particle air pollution with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources standards for outdoor air quality.

Volunteers tested venues on a single occasion for 30 minutes each. In contrast, testing protocol for DNR and EPA studies call for samples 24 hours a day over a number of days.

The TSI SidePak Aerosol Monitor used to measure fine particle air pollution was zero-calibrated prior to each use and a baseline measurement was taken outside each establishment.

All of the establishments had air quality which was judged as "unhealthy," while three were determined "hazardous," according to the study. All four, meanwhile, registered pollution levels two to three times what is considered hazardous during one or more parts of the test.

The study also notes that the day was unseasonably warm, and open doors and windows created greater-than-normal levels of air circulation.

"This kind of pollution would be unacceptable if it was outdoors," Dodge County public health officer Jody Langfeldt said. "People would be told to stay home, shut the doors and windows and avoid doing anything strenuous. Yet, because this pollution is indoors somehow that's supposed to be okay? People are putting their health at risk simply by going to or working inside these establishments."

According to the report, the bars and restaurants tested were not named because the study did not want to give the impression they were any more or less polluted than others in the area.

A press release accompanying the study opens by declaring that "ordering dinner and a drink in Beaver Dam may be hazardous to your health." But there are those who feel the study trumps up the danger of second-hand smoke.

Jim Polster, president of the Dodge County Tavern League, and John Biel, owner of John's Bar, 1201 Madison St., both point to the stance taken by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

Biel read a 1997 quote by OSHA associate secretary Greg Watchman, which said that "Field studies of environmental tobacco smoke indicate that under normal conditions, the components in tobacco smoke are diluted below existing permissible exposure levels (PEL) as referenced in the air contaminant standard. It would be very rare to find a workplace with so much smoking that any individual PEL would be exceeded."

Biel also said that OSHA conducted studies in 1993 and 2003 which downplayed the affects of second-hand smoke in the workplace.

"I personally called OSHA two months ago and talked to the air quality department," Biel said. "They said there is no new research that would make OSHA change its position from what it was in 1993 and then was reiterated in 2003."

The study was funded by the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and conducted by the Dodge County Tobacco-Free Coalition. The University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed the data with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute writing the final report.