K. Phillips et al., ASSESSMENT OF AIR-QUALITY IN TURIN BY PERSONAL MONITORING OF NONSMOKERS FOR RESPIRABLE SUSPENDED PARTICLES AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO-SMOKE, Environment international, 23(6), 1997, pp. 851-871
Exposure to respirable suspended particles (RSP), environmental tobacc
o smoke (ETS) particles, nicotine, and 3-ethenylpyridine (3-EP) was as
sessed in Turin for 188 subjects during February and March 1995. Perso
nal monitors were worn over a 24-h period, each subject providing a sa
liva sample for cotinine analysis both prior to and following the moni
toring period, Comprehensive lifestyle questionnaires were also comple
ted before and after the 24-h monitoring period. The study comprised h
ousewives in one group, primarily for assessing exposures in the home,
and office workers in a second group to assess exposures in the workp
lace. A single personal monitor was worn by each participating housewi
fe, while employed subjects wore one monitor at work and a separate mo
nitor at home and elsewhere, Based on median 24-h time-weighted averag
e exposures, the most highly exposed subjects to RSP, ETS particles, n
icotine, and 3-EP were office workers living with smokers and employed
in locations where smoking was allowed. Annualised exposures for nons
mokers living and working in smoking environments indicate that the ho
me contribution to RSP is between 3 and 4 times that obtained from the
workplace. Similarly nicotine and ETS particle contributions from the
home are, respectively, 4 and 7 times more than those obtained from t
he workplace, Subjects living and working with smokers had the highest
median saliva cotinine levels of 1.7 ng mL(-1). Using a cut off level
of 25 ng mL(-1), up to 6.5% of subjects were found to have misreporte
d themselves as nonsmokers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.