Efficient Purification of Multiple Pollutants of Tobacco Smoke via Photocatalytic Oxidation Purifier

Tobacco smoke, a complex mixture of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants, poses serious health risks and remains a significant challenge for indoor air purification. Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) technology has emerged as an effective strategy for pollutant removal, but its application in real tobacco smoke purification and associated health impacts remains underexplored. Herein, we investigated the simultaneous removal of PM and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from tobacco smoke using a PCO purifier. The PCO purifier exhibited superior PM removal, achieving 99% efficiency within 10 min and reducing ultrafine PM concentrations to one-tenth of those observed with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration. The 63 main VOCs, predominantly oxygenated VOCs, were identified in tobacco smoke with the PCO purifier exhibiting over 99% removal efficiency within 300 min. Furthermore, the PCO purifier demonstrated exceptional stability and long-term durability across varying humidity levels and smoke concentrations. The hazard index (HI) was quantified to evaluate the health risks associated with tobacco smoke. The PCO purifier reduced HI by 95% within 120 min, demonstrating its effectiveness in mitigating exposure risks. Additionally, the major HI was primarily established from four key indicator compounds (i.e., 2,5-dimethylfuran, 2,3-butanedione, n-nitrosomethylethylamine, and isocyanic acid), which reliably estimated the overall health risks during the purification of tobacco smoke. The study provides a promising strategy for the simultaneous purification of multiple pollutants from tobacco smoke in the indoor environment along with a convenient method for assessing the associated health impacts.