New publication: Outdoor second-hand cigarette smoke significantly affects air quality
Second-hand smoke (SHS) may be significantly elevated outdoors and when adjacent to smoking areas. This is of concern as SHS exposure is linked to adverse health outcomes, including respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancer. Exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in outdoor areas is likely to occur in the presence of cigarette smoke, and worryingly, short periods of exposure to SHS are related to detectable levels of carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines in nonsmoking subjects.
In this study, to investigate the contribution of SHS to outdoor air quality, the environmental pollution of a high-traffic area is compared to that of a “street canyon” by measuring particulate matter (particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 1 μm (PM1), 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and 10 μm (PM10)) and vapour nicotine levels.