Smoking rooms ‘do not protect public’
Print Edition
Smoking rooms at local airports, railway stations, hotels and other public areas do not adequately protect non-smokers from passive exposure to smoke, according to a study released yesterday by Fudan University.
The density of PM2.5 — fine particle pollution — near the entrance of a smoking room can reach up to 900 micrograms per cubic meter, said Professor Zheng Pinpin, the head of the smoking control research center at the university. The national safety standard is 75 micrograms and the World Health Organization considers anything higher than 25 to be unsafe.
The center surveyed the PM2.5 density inside and five meters away from smoking rooms at local railway stations and long-distance bus stations this month.
Since many smokers light up outside designated smoking rooms due to the unpleasant environment inside, the area outside can sometimes be more polluted than inside, Zheng said. They also found that the doors, which are supposed to be kept closed, are usually open.
The PM2.5 density inside the smoking rooms can reach up to 2,500 micrograms per cubic meter, which is 30 times China’s safety standard and over 100 times the WHO standard, according to the survey.
“The survey showed the smoking rooms are ineffective,” she said.
The center also conducted a survey of smokers and nonsmokers through a questionnaire and telephone interviews. Half of the smokers said the smoking rooms are unbearably smoky, and 60 percent of them supported getting rid of them altogether, she added.
The center carried out the study after a draft amendment bill called for the continued operation of smoking rooms.
Dr Bernhard Schwartlander, representative for the WHO in China, told the center that indoor smoking must be comprehensively banned to protect public health, Zheng said.
The city’s legislative body is preparing for an extension to the ban on smoking. Under proposals for the amendment bill, the restriction on smoking indoors should be extended to all public venues, workplaces and public transport facilities, while selected outdoor venues, including parks, tourism spots, and places where children congregate will be added to the list of restricted areas.
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