Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi Violet,

That's a very interesting (and important!) question to address. Here's the info I found on the subject and some suggestions on where to look for more.

Second hand smoke in the air (also called ETS-environmental tobacco smoke) is generally monitored by measuring nicotine. Because the amount is very small, measuring it requires some fairly sophisticated and expensive equiptment. Here is a description:
http://www.skcinc.com/ets3.asp

There are also fairly inexpensive tests to detect nicotine in a person's urine. I don't know if these tests are sensitive enough to detect exposure to second hand smoke. You'd have to look into that. Here's an example of these tests:
http://www.homehealthtesting.com/tobacco-tests.htm

Try contacting a local anti-smoking organization. They might have other ideas/information that they could share with you.

One idea is that perhaps you could find an example of a science fair project where a student has found that second hand smoke causes an effect that is easily testable (such as growth, etc.). Try searching "science fair second hand smoke". It would have to be an effect that is seen at levels commonly found in restuarants, etc. Then you could set up that experiment in the smoking section, nonsmoking section, and a place where smoking never occurs.

Do you have a place in mind that would allow you to test? A business might be reluctant to let you test their air. If you have a family member that smokes, they might be willing to let you set up an experiment at their home. If they smoked in one room, you could test in that room and in an adjacent room to mimic the restuarant situation.

Does your science fair require that you do the testing yourself? This might be something to ask your teacher. If not, another option could be to collect data that other scientists have gathered, analyze it yourself, and make a nice presentation about it. This is a good summary of testing already done:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/tob ... POSUR.html
Maybe there is some agency in your state that does this type of testing - another good question you could ask a local anti-smoking group.

Well, hope that helps a little.

Jennifer

Thanks! Your information was really helpful! I was beginning to stress out because I haven't heard from anyone, so you really are a lifesaver! Thanks again!

From your topic question:

How much smoke from the smoking section of a restaurant drifts into the non- smoking section?

I suggest a simple experiment. Hang pieces of filter paper from the ceiling of a restaurant. Hang them in a pattern that forms a grid over the eating area, so that you can then draw those points on a grid on a piece of paper. The grid on the paper can be superimposed over a map of the room showing where the smoking and non-smoking areas are. After a day or so, crumple up the pieces of paper and soak them in a little alcohol or other solvent. You will need to use clean gloves for each paper so as not to cross-contaminate them, or figure out a cleverer way. You can use paper chromatography of the pollutant-containing alcohol to compare how much material got stuck to the filter papers.

Google with the following keywords:

"paper chromatography" science fair project smoke

You will still need to figure out how to give each node a number that corresponds to the amount of pollutants. I predict that there will be more pollutants captured in the smoking area, and the amount will drop off with distance. You may well find that the difference between the smoking and non-smoking areas is not so great.

The room would have to be fairly large, otherwise there will probably be no difference.