Don’t get sniffy about these detectors – although more research is needed

Portable devices are expected to be used in the Netherlands to take from cafés air samples that will later be analyzed to help inspectors determine whether the national tobacco smoking ban has been broken, according to a story by Janene Van Jaarsveldt for nltimes.nl.

The strategy, which is based on research by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), is aimed at reducing the number of ban violations that, it is estimated, occur in as many as a third of the country’s cafés.

The samplers, which would be operated by representatives of the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), take air samples that can be analyzed in laboratories.

The RIVM is recommending that further research be carried out to determine how the sampling method might best be applied in practice.