Background to ventilation and smoke research
The environmental tobacco smoke research was done by the JRC's physical and chemical exposure unit in Ispra using a purpose-built test system. "It is a small room, a tiny pub if you like," the head of the JRC, Dr Barry McSweeney, explained.
Air circulating in the enclosed 30m3 space can be controlled and measured for pollutants. Technicians can measure trace amounts of chemicals to minute levels and to a high degree of accuracy. The ventilation system can provide up to five full air exchanges an hour.
Machines produced the environmental tobacco smoke, the smoke released by a cigarette between puffs, which would deliver the passive smoking effects which the Government's smoking ban is meant to control.
The researchers also used computer modelling to simulate up to 20 air exchanges an hour.
"Perfectly matching" data to the experimental results was produced for between zero and five air exchanges an hour, Dr McSweeney said, "so we are not querying the air exchange rate, we know it down to a decimal point". Researchers in the chamber became colder as the ventilation rate increased, he added.