Setting: Cairo and Giza governorates of Egypt.
Background: Particulate matter under 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) arises from diverse sources, including tobacco smoke from cigarettes and waterpipes, and is recognized as a cause of acute and chronic morbidity and mortality.
Objective: To measure PM2.5 in workplaces with different intensities of smoking and varying levels of smoking restrictions.
Design: We conducted an air sampling study to measure PM2.5 levels in a convenience sample of indoor and outdoor venues in 2005-2006.
Results: Using a calibrated SidePak instrument, 3295 individual measurements were collected at 96 venues. Compared to indoor venues where tobacco smoking was banned (PM2.5 levels 72-81 μg/m(3)), places offering waterpipes to patrons of cafes (478 μg/m(3)) and Ramadan tents (612 μg/m(3)) had much higher concentrations, as did venues such as public buildings with poor enforcement of smoking restrictions (range 171-704 μg/m(3)). Both the number of waterpipe smokers and the number of cigarette smokers observed at each venue contributed significantly to the overall burden of PM2.5.
Conclusion: Such data will support smoke-free policies and programs aimed specifically at reducing environmental tobacco exposure and improving air quality in general, and will provide a baseline for monitoring the impact of tobacco control policies.