US EPA

1317243 

Technical Report 

Passive Smoking in the Workplace: Is It or Is It Not a Health Hazard? 

Remmer, H 

1985 

Remmer, H 

NIOSH/00167408 

35 

11 

330-351 

A review of literature on passive exposure to cigarette smoke in the workplace was presented. Levels of harmful substances in cigarette smoke were found to be 50 to 100 times higher in the sidestream smoke of smoldering cigarettes than in mainstream smoke. Sidestream smoke was found to be more toxic than mainstream smoke in animal studies. Increased dilution in ambient air did not prevent inhalation of volatiles, such as formaldehyde (50000) and nitrosamines. Passive smokers inhaled quantities of these substances equivalent to those inhaled by smokers in the mainstream smoke of several cigarettes. Levels of nicotine (54115), acrolein (107028), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in passively inhaled cigarette smoke were only 1/10 to 1/100 times as high as those in actively inhaled smoke. Nicotine and its metabolite, cotinine (486566), were found in body fluids of passive smokers, indicating exposure to other smoke constituents. Data from epidemiological studies revealed a significantly increased risk of lung cancers, as well as cancers outside the respiratory tract, among passive smokers. The author concludes that a causal relationship between passively inhaled smoke and lung cancer has been established, and that the development of "harmless" cigarettes will remain a priority as long as cigarette smoking is acceptable social behavior. (German) 

DCN-153829; TRANS; Cigarette smoking; Tobacco smoke; Breathing zone; Carcinogens; Aldehydes; Occupational exposure; Air contamination; Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons; Lung cancer