Irritating and annoying effects of passive smoking.

The acute irritating and annoying effects have been investigated in field and laboratory studies in relation to the concentration of some smoke components in the air. At the workplace 30 to 70% of the indoor CO, NO and particle concentrations are due to tobacco smoke; 25-40% of the employees are disturbed and annoyed by smoke, one quarter suffers from eye irritations at work. Subjective eye, nose and throat irritations and eye blink rate increase with increasing smoke concentration as well as with increasing exposure duration. Irritations are mainly due to the particulate phase of environmental tobacco smoke, whereas the gas phase is to a large extent responsible for annoyance. It is concluded that an average healthy person can be exposed to an acceptable cigarette smoke level which produces a carbon monoxide concentration of 1.5 to 2.0 ppm. Above these limits, counter-measures to protect passive smokers are necessary. The required fresh air supply values are presented.