Smoking ban good for accordions, too, Irish say

Smoking bans save … accordions .

The 2004 ban on smoking in Ireland not only has improved the air in pubs but also has improved the quality of music, Dublin physicians report Friday in the British Journal of Medicine.

Particulates from secondhand smoke accumulate on the interiors of accordions, concertinas, melodeons and Uillean bagpipes, damaging the instruments often played in traditional pub sessions.

The deposits on reeds in the instruments can become so thick that they change the instrument’s pitch, reported researchers from St. Vincent’s University Hospital. The team contacted six of seven instrument repairers in Dublin, and all recorded that the damage to the instruments had declined sharply since the implementation of the ban.