Exposure to Respirable Particulate Matter and Its Association with Respiratory Outcomes in Beauty Salon Personnel

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.