WHEN it is hazy, going indoors can help - but stay away from a smoky pub.
Chances are, you are better off in the smog than in some of the watering holes in Boat Quay and Chinatown which allow smoking.
A recent study by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) showed the air in these pubs was more polluted than even a hazardously hazy day, and way above the PSI 301 reading.
The National Environment Agency regards this PSI level as dangerous to health, says Dr Koong Heng Nung, the senior NCCS consultant who conducted the study.
Dr Koong also found that the indoor pollutant levels in the pubs were about 96 per cent greater than in no-smoking venues.
He recorded a level of 622 micrograms per cubic metre - the measure of pollutant particles in an area - in bars that permit smoking.
This amount of pollution - equivalent to breathing in second-hand smoke from two cigarettes in an enclosed HDB bedroom - was higher than the 22 micrograms per cubic metre measured in no-smoking places.
Dr Koong said the reading was also above the average of 357 micrograms per cubic metre measured in smoky pubs in 33 countries, including Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand and the United States.
Dr Koong said: 'The reading is also higher than that in France, which is 487. The pubs in Germany registered readings of 327.'
Second-hand smoke, which contains 4,800 chemicals including 69 that cause cancer, significantly increases a non-smoker's risk of developing lung cancer.
Dr Koong carried out his study at the end of last year in nine pubs, a restaurant, two food courts, one hotel and one hospital, using an air monitoring device hidden in a bag.
'The sampling must be done discreetly as we needed to record the data in normal circumstances at the venues,' he explained. 'The owners were not notified.'
Data collected includes the size of each room, the number of people in it and the number of lit cigarettes. This was logged in to the portable monitoring device, which was then sent to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the US for analysis.
Data collected by the 33 countries participating in the study will be used to develop a global scorecard of second-hand smoke exposure.
Dr Koong hopes the study will contribute to Singapore's mission to ban smoking in all public places.
In June this year, 42 hawker centres went smoke-free and last month, the smoking ban was extended to all public eating spots.
By July next year, smoking will be banned in pubs, clubs and karaoke lounges.