The Contribution of Environmental Tobacco Smoke to Indoor Pollution in Pubs and Bars

Abstract

Smoking is currently allowed in most UK pubs and bars and smoking policies are self regulated by the hospitality industry through the Public Places Charter, which encourages the provision of non-smoking areas and improved ventilation. In this study monitoring of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been conducted in 60 pubs and bars in the Greater Manchester area to determine the effectiveness of different smoking policies. The ETS markers RSP (as PM2.5), UVPM, FPM, SolPM and nicotine were sampled at several locations in each establishment, using portable monitoring cases and analysed using established methods. ETS concentrations were significantly lower in non-smoking areas in comparison to smoking areas, with reductions of between 27-69%. Bar areas had similar levels to smoking areas. The proportion of particles (RSP) that could be attributed to ETS was considerable even in non-smoking areas (43-55%) indicating that smoking was the major source of particles in these environments. The use of mechanical and/or air cleaning systems resulted in lower average concentrations of ETS markers in comparison to use of extractor fans or natural ventilation, but these differences were not statistically significant.