title: Feasibility of Measuring Tobacco Smoke Air Pollution in Homes: Report from a Pilot Study.
abstract: Tobacco smoke air pollution (TSAP) measurement may persuade parents to adopt smoke-free homes and thereby reduce harm to children from tobacco smoke in the home. In a pilot study involving 29 smoking families, a Sidepak was used to continuously monitor home PM(2.5) during an 8-h period, Sidepak and/or Dylos monitors provided real-time feedback, and passive nicotine monitors were used to measure home air nicotine for one week. Feedback was provided to participants in the context of motivational interviews. Home PM(2.5) levels recorded by continuous monitoring were not well-accepted by participants because of the noise level. Also, graphs from continuous monitoring showed unexplained peaks, often associated with sources unrelated to indoor smoking, such as cooking, construction, or outdoor sources. This hampered delivery of a persuasive message about the relationship between home smoking and TSAP. By contrast, immediate real-time PM(2.5) feedback (with Sidepak or Dylos monitor) was feasible and provided unambiguous information; the Dylos had the additional advantages of being more economical and quieter. Air nicotine sampling was complicated by the time-lag for feedback and questions regarding shelf-life. Improvement in the science of TSAP measurement in the home environment is needed to encourage and help maintain smoke-free homes and protect vulnerable children. Recent advances in the use of mobile devices for real-time feedback are promising and warrant further development, as do accurate methods for real-time air nicotine air monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. rosenl@post.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel. david.zucker@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.affiliation: Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92123, USA. mhovell@cbeachsdsu.org.
authors.forename: Melbourne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hovell
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. nilibrown1970@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Nili
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. amit.bahar.ram@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ram
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. vickim@post.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Myers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062405:Motivational Interviewing; D009538:Nicotine / Q000032:analysis*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D009538:Nicotine
keywords: air quality (AQ); children’s health; environmental exposure; environmental monitoring; environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); particulate matter (PM); respirable suspended particles (RSP); secondhand smoke (SHS); smoke-free homes; tobacco smoke exposure (TSE)