Environmental to bacco smoke exposure and The impact of a smoking ban in internet cafes, pubs and billiard halls around a university in Korea

Abstract

EnvironmEntal tobacco smokE ExposurE and thE impact of a smoking ban in intErnEt cafEs, pubs and billiard halls around a univErsity in korEa kWonchul ha 1 & donguk park 2 1 department of biochemistry & health science, changwon national university, south korea 2 department of Environmental health, korea open national university, south korea abstract the objectives of this study were to determine indoor levels of environmental tobacco smoke (Ets) and assess the implementation rate of a smoking ban in hospitality venues surrounding a university campus by measuring particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm (pm 2.5) as an indicator of Ets. We identified the smoking state in business establishments and measured the indoor pm 2.5 concentrations at 20 internet cafes, 38 pubs and 20 billiard halls using a sidepak am510 direct-reading portable real-time monitor from october 2014 to december 2015. smoking was observed in 65% of the internet cafes and 85% of the billiard halls in 2015. the rate in pubs, which were subject to a legal smoking ban, was reduced to 10% in 2015 from 33.3% in 2014. the average pm 2.5 concentrations in 2015 were 98.6 μg/m 3 , 29.6 μg/m 3 and 135.4 μg/m 3 in internet cafes, pubs and billiard halls, respectively. pm 2.5 concentrations in internet cafes and billiard halls were 2 to 2.7 times higher than the 24-h exposure standard (50 μg/m 3) for outdoor pm 2.5 set by the korean ministry of Environment. although a smoking ban had been imposed on internet cafes and pubs, smoking was still taking place in those locations. more stringent enforcement is required for the success of legal measures to protect patrons' and workers' health from secondhand smoke exposure. a ban on smoking in billiard halls should be introduced as soon as is feasible.