An Exploratory Study of Variations in Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in the United States. R. P. Subramaniam, S. L. Golden, P. Kral, J. Turim, and E. L. Anderson, Sciences International, Inc.
There has been considerable interest in comparing workplace exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) with exposures at other settings. Jenkins et al. (J. Exposure Anal. Environ. Epidemiol., 6, 473-502, 1996) used personal monitors to measure ETS exposures of 1564 non-smokers in 16 US cities and compared exposure in the workplace with exposure away-from-work. In conjunction with exposure data, extensive diary and questionnaire information were also gathered. We probed these data further to examine 1) correlation between work and away-from-work exposures to ETS, 2) the variability in exposure patterns across cities, and 3) the association of ETS exposure with some socioeconomic, occupation and lifestyle variables. Our findings are that 1) at the population level, there is a positive association between exposures to ETS at the work and away from work environments, 2) exposure patterns across the 16 cities are highly variable, 3) occupation, education, and household income play a significant role in determining exposure levels, and 4) smoking restrictions at work are associated with lower exposure to ETS both at work as well as away-from-work environments. In addition, age and dietary factors have associations with exposure levels. Generally, the same cities that exhibit lower (or higher) away-from-work exposure levels also show lower (or higher) work exposure levels. Our observations suggest the hypothesis that avoidance characteristics, and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors that affect a population’s exposure to ETS may be similar in the away-from-work and work environments. The results of this analysis may be used to better target specific sections of the population to reduce health risk associated with ETS exposure.
Work sponsored by the Center for Indoor Air Research, Linthicum, MD.
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