An international survey of indoor air quality, ventilation, and smoking activity in restaurants: a pilot study

Abstract

During a pilot study of indoor air quality in restaurants, a survey was performed in 34 medium-priced restaurants in six countries in Asia, Europe, and North America using a uniform protocol. The concentration of selected constituents of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) present in occupied areas was determined during lunch and dinner periods by measuring the levels of four particulate-phase markers and two gas-phase markers. The particulatephase markers determined were respirable suspended particles, ultraviolet particulate matter, fluorescing particulate matter, and solanesol particulate matter. The gas-phase markers were nicotine and 3-ethenylpyridine (3-EP). Correlation between the markers was investigated to explore an improved monitoring approach. It was concluded that at least one marker in each phase was necessary to describe adequately the ETS load. An assessment was made of the ventilation system in each restaurant, and effective ventilation rates were determined based on CO 2 measurements. Smoking activity was also monitored. These data were used to model nicotine and 3-EP concentrations that resulted in a satisfactory prediction of their levels, especially at the higher concentrations. A total number of 1370 questionnaires were returned by the restaurant patrons in five countries. In some countries, dissatisfaction rates above 20% were observed for draft, freshness of air, and noise. The dissatisfaction rates related to tobacco smoke were less than 20%, which is lower than would be predicted based on measured ETS levels. Based on the results of this international pilot study, recommendations are given for future studies of this type.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in German restaurants, pubs and discotheques

“…In Finland, mean 3-ethenylpyridine levels were 1.4 mg/m 3 in restaurants, 1.6 mg/m 3 in pubs and 6.3 mg/m 3 in discotheques (Hyva¨rinen et al, 2000). Average 3-ethenylpyridine concentrations ranged from 1.3 to 2.7 mg/m 3 in restaurants of six countries (Bohanon et al, 2003). In contrast, we observed higher mean 3-ethenylpyridine levels of 4.1 mg/m 3 in restaurants/cafe´s, 10.2 mg/m 3 in pubs/ bars, and 22.6 mg/m 3 in discotheques.…”

“…Comparable to our study, active sampling for 4 h was performed in a Finnish study (Hyva¨rinen et al, 2000) and in an international survey performed in France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, and United States (Bohanon et al, 2003). In Finland, mean 3-ethenylpyridine levels were 1.4 mg/m 3 in restaurants, 1.6 mg/m 3 in pubs and 6.3 mg/m 3 in discotheques (Hyva¨rinen et al, 2000).…”

Comparison of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Concentrations Generated by an Electrically Heated Cigarette Smoking System and a Conventional Cigarette

“…The net increase in RSP above background in the "hospitality" simulations with "low" IAQ conditions is 287.9 µg/m 3 and 35.8 µg/m 3 for CC and EHCSS simulations, respectively. Because the RSP values reported are background corrected, it is more appropriate to compare the values with ETS/RSP (Bohanon et al, 2003). Figure 6 shows the cumulative distribution of indoor air particulate matter attributed to ETS (ETS-RSP) found in restaurants in France, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland (Bohanon et al, 2003).…”

Measurement of Nicotine in Indoor Air Collected by Alkaline-coated Solid Phase Cartridge Followed by GC-MS Analysis

“…These levels were considerably higher than the nicotine levels detected in restaurants during the busy serving hours for 3-4 hr, which ranged from 0.04 µg/m 3 to 71.6 µg/m 3 . 8) The smoking room that was used in this study had a small floor area of 7.5 m 2 , and the highest number of cigarettes smoked per hour during the sampling period was 8.9. Although the air change rate in the room was high (11.8 times/hr), the small area and the high number of cigarettes may have attributed toward increasing the nicotine concentration in the room.…”

“…5,6) For the investigation of ETS exposure, nicotine has been used as a selective marker of tobacco smoke. Among many reports that proposed measurement methods for indoor air nicotine, XAD-4 resin for active sampling [7][8][9] and the sodium bisulfate-treated filter for passive sampling [10][11][12] have been frequently used in recent years. In the active sampling method, it was easy to extract the nicotine from the XAD-4 in the glass tube; which was obtained by ultrasonication of the resin for 30 min; 13) however the nicotine recovery from the spiked sampler was rather lowapproximately 70% with the passage of air for 6-8 hr.…”