Seminars in Tobacco Science: Terms used for Exposure to Smoke

The Smoking Behaviour Sub Group of the Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA) was set up in 1996 with the aims of reviewing information relevant to smoking behaviour, publishing the reviews, identifying gaps in information and suggesting suitable studies. So far three reviews have been published by members of the sub group (1-3) and other reviews are in progress. One aspect of the subject that has become apparent to the sub group is that terms are used inconsistently in various papers on smoking behaviour. We therefore propose that the following terms and their definitions are used in the future.