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Internet cafe smoke level hazardous
By Liang Yiwen |
February 5, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SMOKE in local Internet cafes is at a hazardous level, Fudan University researchers said yesterday.
The concentration of tiny particulate matter no bigger than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or PM2.5, in Internet cafes is 7 times higher than outdoors.
"It poses a high risk of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and asthma," said Zheng Pinpin, one of the researchers and an associate professor of the university's school of public health.
Researchers studied more than 3,500 people from seven different industries in a Smoke Free Shanghai Campaign before the local anti-smoking law comes into force on March 1. They found the air quality in cyber cafes and restaurants the worst, with many workers reporting asthma, coughs, sore eyes and respiratory tract irritation.
The chance of employees in restaurants of getting a respiratory disease is 7.5 times higher than for kindergarten staff, according to their research. Shopping mall and hotel staff had the next highest risk. School and hospital staff had the same risk as kindergarten workers. The risk for Internet cafe workers is expected to be the highest but is still being calculated, researchers said.
The PM2.5 reach 256 micrograms per cubic meter in Internet cafes. China has no environmental standard based on PM2.5, but the United States Environmental Protection Agency listed PM2.5 above 251 micrograms per cubic meter as hazardous.
The fine particles in Chinese restaurants are about four times denser than outdoors. The fine particles are about 1.2 denser in fast-food restaurants.
Researchers also said the smoking ban will not affect business.
They found a restaurant's smoking and non-smoking outlet in the same shopping center did about the same business. However, the tiny particles in the outlet that allowed smoking were six times higher than the non-smoking one.
"The anti-smoking law enforcement is very important but may encounter difficulty," Zheng said.
Shanghai will ban smoking in public areas from March 1, according a draft amendment to the anti-smoking law.
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