Abstract
We aimed to assess exposure to respirable particulate matter (PM) of beauty salon personnel, identify its determinants and ascertain the associated respiratory effects. We collected 122 full-day respirable PM samples from 12 beauty salons (floor area ranging from 24 to 550 m(3), staff from 4 to 8) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, taking 10 samples from each place using a portable SidePak AM520 monitor. We also assessed lifestyle (smoking, etc.), respiratory symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQL) of the personnel using questionnaires. Out of 11,831 5-min data points, daily median respirable PM concentrations were highly variable and ranged from 0.013 to 0.666 mg/m(3) with 8.5-times difference in the median concentrations between the venue with the highest median (0.29 mg/m(3)) and the least median (0.034 mg/m(3)). In a multivariate linear regression modelling, ambient PM(2.5) concentration was the strongest predictor of daily median respirable PM concentration (beta 2.12; 95% CI 1.89; 2.39), and R(2) of the model was 0.63. We also found a positive association of the median respirable PM with respiratory symptoms and seasonal allergy, but not with HRQL. Short-term respirable PM levels in the beauty salons may be very high, but the median concentrations are mainly determined by the ambient air pollution.