| Summary: | Introduction
Enclosed designated smoking areas (DSAs) and smoking zones are
allowed in food-serving venues in Kazakhstan. Air quality in smoke-free foodserving
venues, in venues with smoking throughout, in those with DSAs and those
with smoking zones, is not fully understood.
Methods
A cross-sectional study with aim to evaluate PM 2.5 concentrations in the
venues with mixed smoking was conducted from September to October 2017 in
Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan. A total of 44 rooms within the selected 29
venues were evaluated: 100% smoke-free (5), non-smoking zones (7), smoking
zones (7), non-smoking venues with DSAs (8), venues that allow smoking
throughout (9), and DSAs (8). Real-time PM 2.5 measurement was conducted
by TSI SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor and used to rank health-risk
assessment using the Air Quality Index developed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
Results
Smoke-free food-serving venues had moderate levels of air quality with
mean PM 2.5 of 26.2 μg/m 3 while non-smoking zones inside venues that also
permitted smoking had a mean of 56.5 μg/m 3 , corresponding to unhealthy air
quality. Venues restricting smoking only to DSAs also had unhealthy air quality in
non-smoking areas (mean PM 2.5 = 87.6 μg/m 3 ) while DSAs had hazardous levels
of air quality (mean PM 2.5 = 647.9 μg/m 3 ). Smoking zones inside the venues and
venues allowing smoking throughout had a mean PM 2.5 of 180.3 and 182.0 μg/m 3 ,
respectively, ranking as very unhealthy. On average 3.5 persons were observed
in DSAs with mean volume of 38.9 m 3 . Cigarette and/or hookah were the major
source of PM 2.5 . The higher the smoker density the poorer the air quality in the
venue.
Conclusions
Hazardous level of PM 2.5 due to tobacco products inside DSAs
demonstrated the low efficiency of a smoking ban with exemptions. A complete
smoking ban in food-serving venues should be in place to fully protect people
from hazardous air quality conditions.
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