Abstract
BackgroundTo measure levels of indoor pollution in relation to smoking in four English prisons.MethodsTSI SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitors were used to measure concentrations of particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) for periods of up to 9 h in selected smoking and non-smoking areas, and personal exposure monitoring of prison staff during a work shift, in four prisons.ResultsPM2.5 data were collected for average periods of 6.5 h from 48 locations on 25 wing landings where smoking was permitted in cells, on 5 non-smoking wings, 13 prisoner cells, and personal monitoring of 22 staff members. Arithmetic mean PM2.5 concentrations were significantly higher on smoking than non-smoking wing landings (43.9 μg/m3 and 5.9 μg/m3 respectively, p < 0.001) and in smoking than non-smoking cells (226.2 μg/m3 and 17.0 μg/m3 respectively, p < 0.001). Staff members wore monitors for an average of 4.18 h, during which they were exposed to arithmetic mean PM2.5 concentration of 23.5 μg/m3.ConclusionsThe concentration of PM2.5 pollution in smoking areas of prisons are extremely high. Smoking in prisons therefore represents a significant health hazard to prisoners and staff members.
Highlights
To measure levels of indoor pollution in relation to smoking in four English prisons
There is no safe level of Second-hand smoke (SHS), standards for indoor air quality produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend that PM2.5 concentrations alone should not exceed 25 μg/m3 as a 24 h mean, or 10 μg/m3 as an annual mean [14]
Mean PM2.5 concentrations were significantly higher on landings where smoking was permitted in cells than non-smoking wing landings (43.87 μg/m3 and 5.90 μg/m3 respectively, p < 0.001)
Summary
To measure levels of indoor pollution in relation to smoking in four English prisons. Second-hand smoke (SHS) causes a range of harmful health effects including lung cancer, lower respiratory tract infections and cardiovascular disease; and exacerbates asthma [1,2,3]. Awareness of these effects has led governments in the UK and many other countries to introduce smoke-free legislation, and in England, legislation requiring all enclosed work and public places to become smoke-free came into force in July 2007 [4]. Evidence to date on the concentration levels of particulate matter in prisons is limited [15,16,17], with little information on ambient concentrations on wing landings or smoking cells, and to our knowledge, no data from prisons in England. This study was carried out to measure PM2.5 concentrations, as a proxy measure for second-hand
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