Assessing exposure to secondhand smoke in restaurants and bars 2 years after the smoking regulations in Beijing, China

摘要

Field observation of patron smoking behaviors and multiple sampling approaches were conducted in 79 restaurants and bars in Beijing, 2010, 2 years after implementing the governmental smoking regulations. Smoking was observed in 30 visits to 22 of the 37 nominal non-smoking venues during peak patronage times and six visits to four of the 14 nominal non-smoking sections. The median area secondhand smoke (SHS) concentrations during peak patronage time were 27, 15, 43, and 40 μg/m~3 in nominal non-smoking venues, non-smoking sections, smoking sections, and smoking venues, respectively, as indicated by the difference between indoor and outdoor PM_(2.5) levels; and 1.4, 0.6, 1.7, and 2.7 μg/m~3, respectively, as indicated by airborne nicotine. In the 27 venues with sampling of different approaches and over different time periods, the median nicotine concentration was 1.8 μg/m~3 by one-hour peak patronage-time sampling, 1.1 μg/m~3 by 1-day active area sampling, 2.5 μg/m~3 by 1-day personal sampling, and 2.3 μg/m~3 by week-long passive sampling. No significant differences in nicotine levels were observed among venues/sections with different nominal smoking policies by all sampling approaches except during peak patronage time. This study showed that the 2008 Beijing governmental smoking restriction has been poorly implemented, and SHS exposures in Beijing restaurants and bars remain high.