Persistent pollution with dangerous nanoparticles in Austrian hospitality venues

Motivation: After the introduction of a partial smoking ban in the Austrian hospitality industry in 2009 poor compliance and pollution with fine particles in 47 Viennese smoking rooms and 23 adjacent non-smoking rooms was found (www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/2/2/171). Because PM1 correlated with air nicotine and was more discriminative than PM2.5, a second survey in 134 rooms of hospitality venues in Vienna included particle number (PN) and lung deposited surface area (www.nature.com/articles/jes201322.pdf). The high pollution with ultrafines found even in the nonsmoking sections, contributed to the legislation of 2015, which banned smoking without exceptions. But a new government cancelled this ban before it entered into force in 2018, arguing with improvements of compliance. Therefore a comparable survey was performed in Graz (Sep.-Nov.) and smaller towns in Lower Austria (Nov.-Dec. 2018).

Methods: All indoor samples were taken unannounced and secretly. Immediately after indoor sampling one outdoor sample was taken on the street, where the enterprise was located. In Graz one non-smoking venue was used as an indoor reference for 26 venues where PN was measured in the smoking room and an adjacent non-smoking room. ... mehrFor 20 rural venues in Lower Austria another nonsmoking venue was used as indoor reference. In each room samples were collected for at least 20 minutes by a diffusion size classifier (minidisc G3_016, matter aerosol).

Results: Even with doors closed during sampling, transfer of ultrafines from smoking to non-smoking rooms was evident. In non-smoking venues without adjacent smoking rooms, levels were below outdoor concentrations.

Conclusion: Contamination of Austrian bars, discos, pubs, cafes and restaurants is still unacceptable.