K. Phillips et al., ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO-SMOKE AND RESPIRABLE SUSPENDED PARTICLE EXPOSURES FOR NONSMOKERS IN HONG-KONG USING PERSONAL MONITORING, Environment international, 24(8), 1998, pp. 851-870
One hundred and ninety-four randomly selected nonsmoking subjects coll
ected air samples in their breathing zone by wearing personal monitors
for 24 h, The study was centered in Hong Kong, and comprised housewiv
es in one group, primarily for assessing exposures in the home, and of
fice workers in a second group to assess the contribution of the workp
lace to overall exposure. Samples collected were analysed for respirab
le suspended particles (RSP), nicotine, 3-ethenylpyridine, and environ
mental tobacco smoke (ETS) particles using ultraviolet absorbance (UVP
M), fluorescence (FPM), and solanesol measurements (SolPM), Saliva cot
inine analyses were also undertaken to confirm the nonsmoking status o
f the subjects and to investigate their correlation with ETS exposure
measurements. Approximately 6% of the subjects in Hong Kong misclassif
ied their nonsmoking status. Median time-weighted average (TWA) RSP co
ncentrations varied from 43 to 54 mu g m(-3) with no significant diffe
rences detected between any of the groups investigated. Office workers
who lived and worked with smokers were exposed to 2.6 mu g m(-3) ETS
particles (SolPM) and 0.44 mu g m(-3) nicotine, based on median TWA co
ncentrations. Median concentrations of ETS particles and nicotine were
below the limits of quantification for housewives living with smokers
and were not significantly different from those for housewives living
with nonsmokers. It would therefore be unreliable in Hong Kong to use
a smoking spouse as a marker for assessing health risks related to ET
S exposure. The office workers in this study were significantly more e
xposed to ETS than housewives from either smoking or nonsmoking homes,
and the workplace was estimated to contribute over 33% of the annual
exposure to ETS particles and nicotine. Exposure estimates suggest tha
t the most highly exposed office workers in this study receive between
11 and 50 cigarette equivalents per year, based upon upper decile lev
els for ETS particles and nicotine, respectively. (C)1998 Elsevier Sci
ence Ltd.