Second-hand tobacco smoke effects evaluated by proteomics

Abstract

Second-hand smoke (SHS) is responsible for more then 600000 premature year deaths. In the European Union, 14% of Non-Smokers (NS) are exposed to other individuals’ tobacco smoke at home and 30% are exposed at the workplace. Towards their protection several European countries, except Portugal, move to a total tobacco ban in indoor public places. In 2008, a project aiming to analyze the impact of partial smoking ban in Portuguese public venues started. After our previously evidence of both SHS air contamination in non-smoking areas and inhalation of tobacco smoke by the venues workers, we aimed to study resultant biochemical and molecular changes at both systemic and respiratory level.