Status of indoor air pollution in barbershops and its health effects on practitioners in China

Objective To investigate the current status of indoor air pollution in barbershops in China, and to assess the effects of exposure to indoor air pollutants on the health of the practitioners.

Methods Using the monitoring data of 1284 barbershops from the National Health Risk Factor Surveillance Program in Public Places in 2020, the authors compared the differences of the unqualified rates among ammonia, formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, xylene, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ by the Chi-squared test, and used a Logistic regression model to analyze the relationship between the exposure level of each indoor air pollutant and the risk of bronchitis, asthma, and allergic dermatitis among 4348 practitioners.

Results In barbershops, the unqualified rates of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ were the highest, with 23.51% and 13.69%, respectively. All the seven pollutants showed higher concentrations and unqualified rates in the north than those in the south (all P < 0.05). The concentrations and unqualified rates of toluene and PM₁₀ were the highest in the eastern economic belt; ammonia, formaldehyde, benzene, and xylene were the highest in the western economic belt; and PM_2.5 were the highest in the central economic belt (all P < 0.05). Compared with small barbershops, large barbershops had significantly higher unqualified rates of benzene, toluene, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5 (all P < 0.05). The exposure levels of formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, and PM_2.5 were significantly higher in practitioners suffering from bronchitis, asthma, or allergic dermatitis during employment than in those without the diseases (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the higher exposure levels of formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, xylene, and PM_2.5, the higher risks of suffering from bronchitis, asthma, and allergic dermatitis in practitioners; the higher exposure level of PM₁₀, the higher risk of bronchitis (P < 0.05).

Conclusion The status of indoor air pollution in barbershops in China is a concern. Exposure to indoor air pollutants may increase the risk of suffering from bronchitis, asthma, and allergic dermatitis in practitioners.