The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To assess the level and the distribution of exposure sites and the patterns of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among non-smokers in Finland. Design: Population based sample with sub sample of currently working non-smokers. Participants: Total number of population sample was 8468 subjects (25-64 years).

Methods: 123 non-smokers reporting daily exposure to ETS in excess of one hour participated in personal exposure measurements. A five-day sampling of the breathing zone air was based on the passive monitoring of 3-ethenylpyridine (3-EP).

Results: The proportion of non-smokers exposed to ETS has declined from 14.9% to 5.9% in a decade among men, respectively for women 9.8% to 3.6%. Over one hour daily exposure was in 2002 at work 6.3% for men and 2.8% for women, at home 1.4% for men and 1.7% for women and at leisure time respectively1.7% and 1%. The 3-EP concentrations ranged from <0.01 to 30 µg/m3 (n=221), low exposures being the most frequent. Over half, 55% of the study group was exposed both at work and spare time. The geometric mean concentration for 3-EP at home and during spare time was 0.07 µg/m3 (mean sampling time 74 hours) and for the occupational exposure 0.30 µg/m3 (mean sampling time 32 hours). Conclusion: The ETS legislation has succeeded in decreasing the ETS exposure overall, but work time exposure is still higher than spare time. Moreover, among women, home exposure remains a significant source of ETS. Policy development on ETS should protect population from ETS in all environments.