[Concentrations of pollutants in the smoke blowing area of smokers].

The concentrations of particles and nitrogen oxide have been measured in the "blowing cloud" of a smoker. At a distance of 1 m from the smoker, the peak values range from 41 to 750 ppb NO and 3,330 to 99,680 micrograms/m3 particles. These high concentrations decrease very rapidly (half-life period between 2 and 20 s). At a distance of 3 m, there is no more real "blowing cloud". In addition to the sidestream smoke, the relatively high concentrations of particles in the "blowing cloud" of the smoker could also be responsible for the acute irritating effects of the passive smoker.