Pub staff were still being exposed to the adverse effects of cigarette smoke up to two months after the smoking ban last year, according to a study by the HSE West region.
The research, published by the British Medical Journal website this week, found significant levels of "secondhand" tobacco smoke could be detected in designated smoking areas outside licensed premises.
The study led by Maurice Mulcahy, HSE West principal environmental health officer, involved monitoring 40 hotels and 20 pubs in Galway city before and after the introduction of the smoking ban in March last year.
None of the pubs was found to be "smoke free" even when the ban was implemented, while hotels yielded more positive results in terms of reduced exposure by staff to contaminated air. Some 20 of the pubs surveyed before the ban had been found to have a "significant risk standard", according to lung cancer risk data in the US. After the ban, 10 of the 20 pubs were below the significant risk standard, and 10 remained above it.
The study's authors said further research was required on the extent of exposure now, and the proximity of outdoor smoking shelters to buildings. Otherwise, premises might not be "smoke free".