PASSIVE SMOKING IN EXPERIMENTAL AND FIELD CONDITIONS

In a first study subjects were exposed for 1 hr to constant cigarette smoke concentrations corresponding to 5 or 10 ppm CO. Annoyance, subjective eye irritations, and eye blink rate increase in both conditions during the first 30 min of exposure. Respiratory frequency and heart rate variability are not altered. In a second study the air pollution due to tobacco smoke and its irritating effects were investigated in four restaurants. ΔCO as well as ΔNO-expressing the differences between indoor and outdoor concentrations-showed to be adequate parameters to evaluate the air pollution due to tobacco smoke. Subjective irritations of guests show a dose-response relation to ΔCO values. From the results of both investigations, it can be concluded that a degree of air pollution due to tobacco smoke corresponding to less than 2 ppm ΔCO can be considered as low and tolerable for healthy people. This conclusion however is not valid for small children, elderly people, or for individuals with impaired health, e.g., asthmatics and chronic bronchitics, whose sensitivity to tobacco smoke may be greater or different. © 1979.