ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part explores the issue of the constituents of side-stream and mainstream tobacco smoke and markers to identify them in public environments. It points out that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a mixture of both sidestream smoke (SSS) and exhaled mainstream smoke, the exact proportions of which are poorly defined. The part suggests that the composition of ETS can be estimated by the addition of 50% of mainstream smoke to sidestream smoke. It discusses in detail the data which relate to the problem of lung cancer risk. The part focuses on to the specificity of nicotine as a marker for ETS and the fact that the development of filter tip cigarettes has altered its concentration in SSS very little. It provides the review of the data related to the relationship of passive exposure to ETS and non-malignant cardiopulmonary disease.
