Fine particulate matter concentrations in smoking households: just how much secondhand smoke do you breathe in if you live with a smoker who smokes indoors?
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Using data on fine particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) concentrations in smoking and non-smoking homes in Scotland to estimate the mass of PM2.5 inhaled by different age groups. METHODS: Data from four linked studies, with real-time measurements of PM2.5 in homes, were combined with data on typical breathing rates and time-activity patterns. Monte Carlo modelling was used to estimate daily PM2.5 intake, the percentage of total PM2.5 inhaled within the home environment and the percentage reduction in daily intake that could be achieved by switching to a smoke-free home. RESULTS: Median (IQR) PM2.5 concentrations from 93 smoking homes were 31 (10-111) μg/m(3) and 3 (2-6.5) μg/m(3) for the 17 non-smoking homes. Non-smokers living with smokers typically have average PM2.5 exposure levels more than three times higher than the WHO guidance for annual exposure to PM2.5 (10 μg/m(3)). CONCLUSIONS: Fine particulate pollution in Scottish homes where smoking is permitted is approximately 10 times higher than in non-smoking homes. Taken over a lifetime many non-smokers living with a smoker inhale a similar mass of PM2.5 as a non-smoker living in a heavily polluted city such as Beijing. Most non-smokers living in smoking households would experience reductions of over 70% in their daily inhaled PM2.5 intake if their home became smoke-free. The reduction is likely to be greatest for the very young and for older members of the population because they typically spend more time at home.
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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 [147]
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Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Semple, S., Apsley, A., Azmina Ibrahim, T., Turner, S. W., & Cherrie, J. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Semple, Sean
- Venue
- Tobacco Control
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2014-10-20
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- e3
- Pages
- e205-e211
- ISSN
- 0964-4563 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-3318
- OpenAlex
- W2099766571
- Cited by
- 80
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 2.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Tobacco Control (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Aberdeen
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Keywords
- passive smoking, indoor smoking, PM2.5, household air pollution, smoke-free homes, time-activity patterns, respiratory rate, Monte Carlo simulation
- MeSH terms
- Beijing, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Air Pollutants, Child, Child, Preschool, Environment, Family Characteristics, Female, Housing, Humans, Male, Respiration, Scotland, Smoking, Nicotiana, Tobacco Smoke Pollution, Air Pollution, Indoor, Inhalation Exposure, Particulate Matter
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