Determination of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in restaurant andtavern workers in one US city

Approximately 173 subjects employed as waiters, waitresses, or bartenders i n the Knoxville, TN, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area collected a sam ple of air from their breathing zone while at their workplace for one shift . In addition, area samples were placed near the work spaces of many of the subjects. Collected samples were analyzed for respirable suspended particu late matter (RSPM), ultraviolet-absorbing and fluorescing particulate matte r, solanesol, 3-ethenylpyridine (3-EP), and nicotine. Saliva samples were c ollected from the subjects prior to and within 24 h following their work sh ift, to confirm their non-smoking status. The range of concentrations of en vironmental tobacco smoke (ETS) constituents encountered was considerable, e.g., for nicotine, from undetectable to more than 100 mu g/m(3). However, the highest RSP levels observed were considerably lower than OSHA workplace standards. Distributions of ETS concentrations suggest that there are two "ETS exposure" types of bartenders: those that work in single room bars and those that work in larger, multi room restaurant/bars. Personal exposure t o ETS of the former group was ca. 10x greater than those of the latter grou p, who were exposed to ETS levels more comparable to those encountered by w ait staff. Exposure (concentration x duration) differences between wait sta ff and workers in other types of unrestricted smoking environments reported in other studies suggest that exposures in the restaurant environment may be more difficult to assess than originally considered. Salivary cotinine l evels indicated that for those subjects living in smoking homes, ETS exposu res outside the workplace are at least as important as those in the workpla ce.