How Long Does Secondhand Smoke Remain in Household Air: Analysis of PM2.5 Data From Smokers’ Homes
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: More than 80% of secondhand smoke (SHS) is invisible to the human eye, and smokers are often unaware of how much SHS is produced when they smoke at home. Very little is known about how long SHS particles remain suspended in the air within household settings. METHODS: Data from a series of studies where fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations were measured every minute in homes were used to identify the PM2.5 peak produced by SHS from the last cigarette smoked of the day. The time taken for this peak to reduce by 50% was calculated, as was the time between the peak and a return to the World Health Organization's (WHO) 24-hr guidance value for PM2.5 of 25 µg/m(3). RESULTS: From more than 230 days worth of 1-min resolved PM2.5 data gathered from 103 smoking households, 140 suitable peaks were identified. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) for the time for the SHS peak to decay by 50% was 55 (23-116) min, and the median (IQR) for the peak to reduce to the WHO guidance value for PM2.5 was 160 (90-313) min. CONCLUSIONS: SHS remains in household air for a considerable period after smoking a cigarette. This information is likely to be of use in public health information campaigns and in interventions to encourage smokers to make their home smoke-free.
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Smoking in homes results in sustained high levels of particulate and gaseous pollution and is an increasingly important source of secondhand smoke exposure, particularly for children, with an estimated 430 million people exposed in China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines alone.
“Smoking in homes results in sustained high levels of particulate and gaseous pollution and is an increasingly important source of SHS exposure, particularly for children (147-149), with a point of times estimate, based on the latest available survey in each country, of 430 million people estimated to be exposed in China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines alone (101).”
From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [149]
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Self-citation'I'm not doing this for me': mothers' accounts of creating smoke-free homes
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Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being
Howden-Chapman, P., Bennett, J., Edwards, R., Jacobs, D., Nathan, K., & Ormandy, D. (2023) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071521-111836 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Reducing Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review
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Self-citationDevelopment of a smoke-free homes intervention for parents: an intervention mapping approach.
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- Authors
- Semple, S., & Latif, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Venue
- Nicotine & Tobacco Research
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-06-05
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1365-1370
- ISSN
- 1462-2203 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-994X
- OpenAlex
- W2319388347
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 2.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nicotine & Tobacco Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Keywords
- passive smoking, household air pollution, PM2.5, indoor air quality
- MeSH terms
- Feasibility Studies, Housing, Humans, Particle Size, Smoking, Time Factors, Tobacco Smoke Pollution, Particulate Matter
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