CDC, Tobacco-Related MMWR

MMWR: INDOOR AIR QUALITY AT NINE LARGE-HUB AIRPORTS WITH AND WITHOUT DESIGNATED SMOKING AREAS – UNITED STATES, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2012

Today, OSH released the following MMWR. The online version of the article will be available at 10:00 am (EST) on the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/mmwr. MMWR Highlights will be posted on CDC’s Smoking and Tobacco Use page later today.

Indoor Air Quality at Nine Large-Hub Airports With and Without Designated Smoking Areas — United States, October–November 2012

Ventilated rooms and designated smoking areas in airports are not effective in fully eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke. Five of the 29 largest airports in the United States allow smoking in designated indoor smoking areas that are accessible to the public. More than 110 million passenger boardings—about 15 percent of all U.S. air travel—occurred at these five airports in 2011. To assess indoor air quality in the five airports, CDC measured levels of air pollution from secondhand smoke and compared it to levels in four large smoke-free U.S. airports. Average air pollution levels from secondhand smoke directly outside designated smoking areas were five times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. The study also showed that air pollution levels inside designated smoking areas were 23 times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. A 2006 Surgeon General’s Report concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.