Objective: To monitor indoor air quality index in a few Italian hospitality industry venues before and after the implementation of the smoking ban in January 2005.
Design: Indoor PM2.5 measurements were carried out in four Milan restaurants during evening hours in the period January-February 2004, and again in January-February 2005, with concurrent outdoor PM2.5 monitoring. The measures were recorded with a portable laser-operated aerosol analyzer with a sampling time of 2 minutes, calibrated by comparison with gravimetric method
Results: PM2.5 ranged between 187+/-52 and 709+/-180 mg/m3, and between 24+/-10 e 141+/-28 mg/m3 (p <0.0001) in the years 2004 and 2005, respectively. After the 2005 smoking ban, overall indoor fine particle pollution decreased by values in the range from 81 to 96%.
Conclusions: Within the limits of a small sample, the study showed a good compliance with the smoking ban in the hospitality industry which resulted in a remarkable improvement in air quality index. Smoking ban thus appears to achieve the aims of protecting people from exposure to an unwanted dangerous pollutant such as environmental tobacco smoke.