The aim of the present study was to identify smoking and alcohol drinking practices among Universidade Estadual do Ceará employees in the city of Fortaleza. The study used 317 employees as subjects. An interview questionnaire containing personal, socioeconomic, tobacco and alcohol consumption data was applied. The tabulation and analysis were made by Epi-Info 6.0. 157 of the interviewed subjects were male and 160 were female, the most prevalent age bracket being 30-49 years of age, and high level of instruction. 146 workers showed a family income starting from 10 minimal living wages per month. 83 workers were considered smokers, and a higher prevalence was detected among males (56). Mean tobacco consumption was 12.3 cigarettes a day, a practice that took place in the last 23.2 years. Alcohol was ingested by 183 employees and the prevalence was also higher among males. The consumption occurred mainly on weekends or rarely. The most ingested drink was beer - 96, followed by Brazilian white rum - 20 employees. The mean daily consumption of ethanol was 29.9 g. The ones who were both smokers and drinkers were mainly males. The instruction and income level were higher among smoking females and the income level was higher among drinking females. Although the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption was low, it is a risk of chronicdegenerative diseases, specially in relation to the ethanol ingested by males. It is necessary to continue this study to provide a deeper association among the different environmental variables.

Keywords: Smoking. Alcoholism. Employees. Universities.