Northwest Tobacco Prevention Coalition
Air Quality Monitoring Project
This project is an organized statewide effort to study and quantify the difference in indoor air pollution in smoking and non-smoking restaurants/bars, as measured by the levels of fine particulate air pollution, using state-of-the-art air pollution monitors. Selected restaurants and bars in Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties, chosen by the NTPC Coalition, were a combination of those that do not allow smoking, those that allow smoking anywhere and those that have designated smoking areas.
After training from a representative of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, 3-4 teams of coalition members/volunteers (3-4 volunteers per team) visited three or four designated venues as paying customers and spent 30-45 minutes with an unobtrusive air monitoring machine (small enough to fit in purse or bag) provided by the TPCB. Upon arrival and every 15 minutes thereafter, teams collected data on number of patrons, approximate room volume and number of lit cigarettes.
The purpose of this project was to provide data anchored in science, giving more credibility to the study and allowing decision-makers/elected officials to review objective, scientific data instead of relying on anecdotal evidence. Only compiled data was be released; no individual restaurant will be named in any of the publicity. Summary graphs of the results are below.
