[Second-hand smoke exposure in Florence and Belluno before and after the Italian smoke-free legislation].

a law banning smoking in enclosed public places entered into force in Italy on January 10th 2005. to compare the SHS exposure before and after the coming into force of the new anti-smoking law, with direct measurements in public venues and workplaces. vapour-phase nicotine was measured using passive samplers, with personal and environmental sampling. samples were collected in 10 municipality offices, 10 industry buildings and 11 public venues (4 discos and 7 pubs) in two towns (Florence and Belluno) from november 2004 to march 2005. during the pre-ban period a wide range of nicotine concentrations was observed. Offices and industry sector exhibited very low concentrations, 0,47 e 0,40 microg/m3 in median, respectively. Highest concentrations were measured in pubs and discos (35,59 and 127,16 microg/m3). After the smoking ban, a noteworthy reduction in nicotine concentrations was found with a stronger effect in pubs and discos (95% of decrease). the introduction of a national smoking ban led to a clear reduction in SHS exposure, with stronger results in environments less protected by previous regulations. Show more