Fine participate matter measurements in Swiss restaurants, cafes and bars: What is the effect of spatial separation between smoking and non-smoking areas?

摘要

We performed 124 measurements of particulate matter (PM_(2.5)) in 95 hospitality venues such as restaurants, bars, cafes, and a disco, which had differing smoking regulations. We evaluated the impact of spatial separation between smoking and non-smoking areas on mean PM_(2.5) concentration, taking relevant characteristics of the venue, such as the type of ventilation or the presence of additional PM_(2.5) sources, into account. We differentiated five smoking environments: (i) completely smoke-free location, (ii) non-smoking room spatially separated from a smoking room, (iii) non-smoking area with a smoking area located in the same room, (iv) smoking area with a non-smoking area located in the same room, and (v) smoking location which could be either a room where smoking was allowed that was spatially separated from nonsmoking room or a hospitality venue without smoking restriction. In these five groups, the geometric mean PM_(2.5) levels were (i) 20.4, (ii) 43.9, (iii) 71.9, (iv) 110.4, and (v) 110.3 μg/m~3, respectively. This study showed that even if non-smoking and smoking areas were spatially separated into two rooms, geometric mean PM_(2.5) levels in non-smoking rooms were considerably higher than in completely smoke-free hospitality venues.