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. 2013 Feb 13;23(4):332–338. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050831

Table 2.

Servers’ and patrons’ cancer risk due to exposure to nine SHS-VOCs in Minnesota restaurants and bars

Servers Patrons, smoking venues/sections Patrons, non-smoking sections
Carcinogenicity effect URE/UR* (10−6) EF† (µg/cigarette) Level‡ (µg/m3) LER§ (10−6) Level‡ (µg/m3) LER§ (10−6) Level‡ (µg/m3) LER§ (10−6)
PM2.5 12471 11.5 1.1 0.2
Acetaldehyde Nasal cancer in rats 2.20 2292 2.11 4.6 0.20 0.5 0.04 0.1
Acrylonitrile Lung cancer in humans 68.0 170 0.16 10.6 0.01 1.1 0.00 0.2
Benzene Leukaemia in humans 7.80 431 0.40 3.1 0.04 0.3 0.01 0.06
1,3-Butadiene Lymphohaematopoietic cancer in humans 30.0 279 0.26 7.7 0.02 0.78 0.01 0.2
Ethylbenzene Kidney cancer in rats 2.50 131 0.12 0.3 0.01 0.03 0.00 0.01
Formaldehyde Nasal cancer in humans 13.0 1101 1.01 13.2 0.09 1.3 0.02 0.3
Naphthalene Nasal cancer in rats 34.0 45 0.04 1.4 0.00 0.1 0.0009 0.03
N-Nitrosodimethylamine Liver cancer in rats 14000 0.57 0.00052 7.3 0.00005 0.7 0.00001 0.2
N-Nitrosopyrrolidine Liver cancer in rats 600 0.10 0.00010 0.06 0.00001 0.005 0.000002 0.001
Total risk of all cancers 48.3 4.8 1.1
Total risk of non-lung cancers 37.7 3.8 0.8

*URE/UR: unit risk estimate reported by the US EPA or unit risk reported by the California EPA.

†Average of EFs reported in the literature (see table A2 in online appendices).

‡Level: daily average exposure concentration during a lifetime of 70 years, adjusted by the factor in equation 2.

§LER, lifetime attributable risk of cancers.

Only nine SHS-VOCs with EF (in µg/cigarette, available from the literature) and URE or UR available from the US EPA or the California EPA website are included in this table. Compounds for which either EF or URE/UR were unavailable are not included even though they are known carcinogens.

EF, emission factor; EPA, Environmental Protection Agency; LER, lifetime excess risk; PM2.5, fine particulate matter; SHS-VOC, volatile organic compounds from SHS; SHS, secondhand smoke; UR, unit risk; URE, unit risk estimate.