[Study on the level of tobacco-generated smoke in several restautants and bars in Beijing, China].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the current smoking regulations and their impacts on the environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) levels inside restaurants and bars in Beijing.


METHODS
Telephone survey was used to investigate the smoking regulations. TSI Sidepak AM510 was used to measure the level of fine particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) in restaurants and bars. Analysis of variance and non-parametric rank tests were used to examine the association between indoor and outdoor PM2.5 levels and (1) smoking regulations; and (2) types of restaurants and bars.


RESULTS
Of the 305 restaurants and bars surveyed, 27.9% had complete or partial smoking prohibiting rules. The average indoor PM2.5, level of the 92 restaurants and bars was 253.08 microg/m3 , 102.37% higher than the outdoor level. The average indoor and outdoor PM2.5 levels in the restaurants and bars with smoking ban regulations were 93.10 microg/m3 and 110.33 microg/m3 whole 289.34 microg/m3 and 128.40 microg/m3 in those without, respectively. The average indoor and outdoor PM2.5 levels of bars were 413.46 microg/m3 and 190.62 microg/m3, respectively, while in the western fast-food restaurants, they were 83.86 microg/m3 and 104.77 microg/m3, respectively. The outdoor PM2.5 levels were higher than the indoor levels in different classes of restaurants and bars. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between PM2.5 levels and the number of smokers per cube meters (r = 0.47, P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Smoking regulations could effectively reduce the ETS level in restaurants and bars.
Kang
Ji-Ming
JM
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China.
Jiang
Yuan
Y
Lin
Xiao-Guang
XG
Yang
Yan
Y
Nan
Yi
Y
Li
Zhu
Z
Liu
Rui-Ling
RL
Feng
Guo-Ze
GZ
Wei
Xiao-Shuai
XS
Travers
Mark J
MJ
Li
Qiang
Q
Hyland
Andrew
A
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D012147:Restaurants; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
D052638:Particulate Matter; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution