Introduction:
The Kazakhstan Health Act, adopted in 2009, allows designated smoking rooms (DSR) in public eating places where food is served, while other public places must to be smoke free. The objective of our study was to assess the effectiveness of the current policy by means of air quality monitoring in both smoke free and non-smoke free venues.

Methods:
A cross-sectional study of indoor air quality was conducted from September to October 2017, in Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan. A total of 29 restaurants, cafes, and bars were monitored: 5 were 100% smoke-free, 15 had designated smoking and non-smoking areas, and 9 allowed smoking throughout the location The real-time measurement of particulate matter (PM) with 2.5 mm aerodynamic diameter was conducted by TSI SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor. The findings were ranked using the WHO target air quality guideline and the Air Quality Index developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA AQI rankings).

Results:
The highest mean PM2.5 level was detected inside the DSRs (430.5 µg/m3), followed by places where smoking was observed throughout the venue (180,3 µg/m3). The third place is held by non-smoking areas of venues with DSRs (73.1 µg/m3 ). The lowest mean PM2.5 level was observed in 100% smoke-free venues (26 µg/m3). The results of both assessment guidelines indicated the similar trends.

Conclusions:
The highest mean PM2.5 concentrations (dangerous level) obviously demonstrates that a partial smoking ban with DSRs significantly reduces any supposed benefits of adjacent smoke free areas, infringes on the fundamental right to be protected from second hand smoke, and severely impacts the country’s FCTC country agenda in general.