title: Air quality in New York City hookah bars.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hookahs are increasingly being used in the USA and elsewhere. Despite the popularity of hookah bars, there is a paucity of research assessing the health effects of hookah smoke, and although New York City (NYC) bans indoor tobacco smoking, hookah lounges claim that they only use herbal products without tobacco. This study investigated levels of multiple indices of indoor air pollution in hookah bars in NYC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Air samples were collected in 8 hookah bars in NYC. Along with venue characteristics, real-time measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and carbon monoxide (CO), and total gravimetric PM, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and nicotine were collected in 1-2 hour sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, levels of indoor air pollution increased with increasing numbers of active hookahs smoked. The mean (SD) real time PM2.5 level was 1179.9 (939.4) µg/m(3), whereas the filter-based total PM mean was 691.3 (592.6) µg/m(3). The mean real time BC level was 4.1 (2.3) µg/m(3), OC was 237.9 (112.3) µg/m(3), and CO was 32 (16) ppm. Airborne nicotine was present in all studied hookah bars (4.2 (1.5) µg/m(3)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate that despite the ban on smoking tobacco products, at the very least, some NYC hookah bars are serving tobacco-based hookahs, and have elevated concentrations of indoor air pollutants that may present a health threat to visitors and employees. Therefore, there is an urgent need for better air quality monitoring in such establishments and policies to combat this emerging public health threat.
authors.affiliation: New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weitzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Ruzmyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vilcassim
authors.affiliation: George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Cornell University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Legrand
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Travers
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Lung-Chi
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Health Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peltier
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D009538:Nicotine / Q000032:analysis; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D011634:Public Health; D012147:Restaurants; D061845:Smoke-Free Policy; D012907:Smoking; D062789:Tobacco Products; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D009538:Nicotine; D002248:Carbon Monoxide
keywords: Nicotine; Non-cigarette tobacco products; Secondhand smoke; Surveillance and monitoring; Toxicology