Design & characterization study: Effectiveness of environmental tobacco smoke particulate and gas phase filtration in an environmental exposure chamber system

Background. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with a number of health effects including cancers of the respiratory system, coronary heart disease, and respiratory diseases. Filtration devices have been used and marketed as a solution to eliminate ETS exposure in bars, casinos, and other areas where ETS may be objectionable without knowledge of their effectiveness in removing potentially biologically relevant compounds.;Methods. An environmental exposure chamber system was developed to characterize filtration effectiveness of both ETS particulate and vapor phases. Using a Teague Enterprises TE-10z smoking machine to generate ETS; carbon monoxide, total suspended particulates, and nicotine concentrations were measured as markers of ETS concentration. Carbon monoxide was measured with a non-dispersive infrared analyzer. Total suspended particulate was measured gravimetrically. Nicotine was collected on XAD-4 tubes and analyzed using gas chromatography. Sampling was then conducted for the above markers, total volatile organic compounds (using direct reading photo ionization detectors), and for specific VOCs (using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) before and after various filter configurations. Filter configurations included High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration, activated carbon filtration, and HEPA/activated carbon combinations.;Results and discussion. Correlation was shown between carbon monoxide, total suspended particulate, and nicotine as effective markers of ETS concentration. In this system, HEPA and HEPA/activated carbon filtration removed greater than 90% of total suspended particulates. HEPA filtration alone resulted in 8% removal of total VOCs, minimal reduction of most specific VOCs, and 63% removal of nicotine. Activated carbon filtration resulted in 87% removal of total VOCs, efficient removal of specific VOCs, and 85% removal of nicotine. The combination of HEPA and activated carbon filtration resulted in 91% removal of total VOCs, nearly complete filtration of specific VOCs, and 92% removal of nicotine. Carbon monoxide concentrations were not affected by filtration.