Workshop summary: assessing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace.

Abstract

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a term now widely used to refer to the mixture of sidestream smoke and exhaled mainstream smoke that pollutes air in locations where tobacco smoking is taking place. A multidisciplinary workshop was convened to address key issues related to ETS exposure in the workplace in order to prepare the groundwork for a risk assessment of the hazard ETS poses to workers. Workshop participants concluded that substantial evidence was now available on worker exposure to ETS using both direct and indirect approaches to exposure assessment and that these data could be used to project distribution of exposures to ETS in the nation's workplaces. This summary of the discussions at the workshop is an overview of the suggested approach to exposure assessment.

Tobacco and Psychiatric Dual Disorders

“…Health risks related to tobacco smoking are well documented. [2][3][4][5][6] While the short-term effects of SHS are not well elucidated, Otsuka et al recently reported that there is direct evidence that SHS may affect coronary circulation by disrupting endothelial function. 3 Worldwide, there are over 1.2 billion tobacco smokers.…”

“…Risks are not only related to direct use of tobacco products, but also to passive exposure from SHS. 4,5 Cigarette smoking causes an estimated 440,000 deaths annually in the United States with approximately 35,000 to 40,000 of these deaths attributed to SHS. 6…”

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and adult asthma

“…“Environmental tobacco smoke” (ETS) is a term widely used to refer to the mixture of side‐stream smoke and exhaled mainstream smoke that pollutes air in locations where tobacco smoking takes place (2). ETS contaminates the indoor air in homes and workplaces.…”

Substance Abuse and Psychiatric Dual Disorders

“…Risks are not only related to direct use of tobacco products, but also to passive exposure from SHS. 4,8,9 In the United States approximately 35,000 to 40,000 of the 444,000 deaths each year are attributed to SHS.…”