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Second-hand smoke exposure in a sample of European hospitals

¹ Tobacco Control Research Programme, Institut Català d’Oncologia–Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, ² Dept of Clinical Sciences, Campus de Bellvitge, Universitat de Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, ³ Catalan Network of Smoke-free Hospitals, ⁴ Evaluation & Intervention Methods Unit, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, ⁸ Dept of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, and ⁵ CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Spain. ⁶ Tobacco Research Unit, Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori/Italian College of General Practitioners, Milan, Italy. ⁷ European Network of Smoke-free Hospitals, Paris, France.

CORRESPONDENCE: E. Fernández, Tobacco Control Research Unit, Institut Català d’Oncologia, Av. Gran Via de l’Hospitalet, 199-203, 08907 L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: efernandez{at}ico.scs.es

Keywords: Environmental tobacco smoke, Europe, hospitals, particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5µm, second-hand smoke, tobacco smoke pollution

Received: November 28, 2008
Accepted February 10, 2009

Smoking in hospitals is banned in many European countries; nevertheless, the level of compliance is diverse, and, in some cases, smoking areas remain. The present study describes the levels of second-hand smoke, as derived from respirable suspended particle measurements, in a sample of European hospitals during the year 2007.

The present study was a multicentric descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in 30 hospitals in seven European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Romania and Spain). Particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm (PM_2.5) concentration was measured by means of a hand-held laser-operated monitor of particle size and mass concentration in six selected indoor locations. Medians and interquartile ranges of PM_2.5 concentration were computed in order to describe the data by country and location of measurement.

The median PM_2.5 concentration in all countries and locations was 3.0 µg·m^–3, with half of the measurements ranging 2.0–7.0 µg·m^–3. PM_2.5 levels were similar across countries. Eleven (5.5%) measurements were >25.0 µg·m^–3, which is the 24-h mean limit recommended by the World Health Organization outdoor air quality guideline.

The present results show that exposure to second-hand smoke in this sample of European hospitals is very low, and can be easily monitored in order to ensure smoke-free legislation compliance.