Smoking and ventilation in restaurants and cafes

Several SINTEF divisions have been working for many years on research projects that deal with indoor climate, for both private and public-sector clients.

In the course of the past three years SINTEF Energy Research Ltd has carried out a number of projects in connection with smoking and ventilation in restaurants and cafes, etc. The Work Environment Fund of the Norwegian Confederation of Industry has financed a survey of this field and of the development of a handbook that describes methods for meeting the requirements of the Smoking Act in restaurants and cafes. The results of our research show that:

In places where food is consumed it is possible to satisfy the relevant requirements of 10 micrograms (millionths of a gram) of nicotine per cubic metre air if the ventilation and the organization of activities are correctly implemented. On the basis of the experience gained in running this project, we believe that it ought to be possible to achieve levels of 1 - 3 micrograms per cubic metre.

Solving this problem is more difficult in nightclubs and pubs, because such places tend to be more crowded and guests wish to move around in them. The industry realized that there was a need for new solutions adapted to sites in which it would not be possible to physically separate "smoking" and "no smoking" areas. In a prototype installation in the Kontoret Bar & Spiseri in Trondheim a major reduction in nicotine concentrations, from 80 micrograms per cubic meter to 0.1 - 9 micrograms, was obtained in various parts of this site’s "no smoking" areas. Monitoring devices worn by waiters, some of whom also were also working in the "smoking" area, indicated values ranging from zero to 11 micrograms per cubic metre air. The solution adopted for the prototype in this case was based on the installation of an air curtain which acted as a divider between the bar counter and the "smoking" area and between the "smoking" and the "no smoking" areas.

The results of this project show that it is is possible to obtain major improvements in the indoor climate and a significant reduction in nicotine concentrations in the air if the ventilation and organization of the site are correctly implemented.

The most important principle involved in creating a good indoor climate will always be that of removing the source of contamination: no matter what type of ventilation system is chosen, it will be impossible to eliminate all tobacco smoke. The evaluation of the extent to which low nicotine concentrations are acceptable, and of which tolerance thresholds and implementation thresholds are acceptable in health terms, did not form part of the project.

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