Abstract
We investigated air concentrations of tobacco smoke-related chemicals in 26 office buildings in Tokyo in 2005 and 2006. Measurements were conducted in (a) smoking rooms, (b) non-smoking areas adjoining smoking rooms and (c) non-smoking rooms such as office rooms. Chemical substances analyzed were nicotine, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, propionaldehyde, toluene, benzene, carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM). The maximum values of nicotine were (a) 267 μg/m3, (b) 16.7 μg/m3 and (c) 1.2 μg/m3, and the detection rates were (a) 100%, (b) 38% and (c) 4%, respectively. Reasons why nicotine was detected in the non-smoking areas are attributed to leakage of tobacco smoke from smoking rooms and a transportation of nicotine adhering to smokers. In smoking rooms, the concentrations of PM and CO were positively correlated to that of nicotine, and hence PM and CO concentrations may be useful indicators for the air quality. In contrast, because of their poor correlation in non-smoking areas adjoining the smoking rooms, it may be difficult to estimate a nicotine level by PM and CO concentrations.
