El ambiente laboral como fuente de exposición a humo de tabaco ambiental: Estudio en trabajadores de bares y restaurantes de Santiago, Chile

Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) is an established cause of morbidity and mortality among non-smokers. The workplace is an important source of exposure, especially among workers of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Aim: To estimate the daily occupational exposure to SHS among non-smoking workers of bars and restaurants of Santiago, Chile. Material and Methods: Environmental vapor-phase nicotine was measured for 95 non-smoking workers of bars and restaurants of Santiago, using passive personal samplers during a daily work shift and outside the workplace. Results: The median occupational exposure to air nicotine was 9.18 μg/m³ (P₂₅-P₇₅ 3.15-25.67 μg/m³). Higher concentrations were found among workers of places with no smoking restrictions (22.72 μg/m³; P₂₅-P₇₅ 5.73-34.85 μg/m³), bar workers (20.75 μg/m³, P₂₅-P₇₅ 5.03-44.67 μg/m³), waiters (20.57 μg/m³, PP₂₅-P₇₅ 5.66-42.73 μg/m³) and bartenders (10.37 μg/m³, P₂₅-P₇₅ 9.75-25.67 μg/m³). The median concentration of nicotine outside the workplace was 1.79 μg/m³ (P₂₅-P₇₅ 1.02-3.00 μg/m³). Occupational exposure was 4.77 times higher compared to the non-work exposure. Conclusions: Workers of bars and restaurants are exposed to high levels of SHS at the workplace. Moreover, occupational exposure among these non-smoking workers is, in most cases, the main source of daily exposure to this pollutant.