Smoking generated PM 2.5 exposure among Transylvanian students

A WHO project initiated in 2004, tries to identify and reduce the number of smoking third year university students attending medical training in Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical sciences as these participants can become role models that patients can look up to.

We proposed to make a general view regarding smoking and exposure to smoke within our medical University, in contrast with the existing legislation regarding smoking within public institutions of the Universities. Along with the investigations held at our university we extended these to other tree, non medical universities.

Using an TSI Pack Aerosol Monitor unit to measure the total PM 2.5 we determined the air quality in several target locations of our University in holiday season and during full didactical periods. The average values were later compared and assessed in a series of statistical tests.

Analyzing the holiday period our university head the most polluted air showing the P.M. 2.5 of 0.016 mg/m3. In the following there were analyzed the recordings from the didactic period where the registered values were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in comparison with the readings from the holiday season. From several points within the universities there were reading 7 times higher than in the holiday season.

The results show two evident conclusion, that there is smoking within the buildings of the universities and within our university the non-smoking students are totally exposed to exhaled cigarette smoke.