Have you ever noticed the smell of cigarettes lingering in a crowded elevator? Or perhaps the faint odor of smoke leftover in a hotel room? If you have, third hand smoke is to blame, and recent research has shown it can be harmful, especially to children and people with health issues like asthma.
The dangers of firsthand and secondhand tobacco smoke, which contain thousands of chemical toxins, are well known by most individuals. Third hand smoke however, is made up of the lingering residue that can persist for months after a cigarette is put out. It can linger in smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions, carpeting, and even walls.
Recent research has shown that third hand smoke reacts with ozone, creating ultrafine particles that can make their way deep into a person's lungs and could present a bigger threat to asthma sufferers than nicotine itself. Additional substances in third-hand smoke include hydrogen cyanide, used in chemical weapons; butane, which is used in lighter fluid; toluene, found in paint thinners; arsenic; lead; and carbon monoxide.
To address the problem of drifting tobacco smoke, many apartment buildings have voluntarily chosen to make their buildings smoke-free. Not only are smoke-free policies popular among residents, recent research by Dr. Michael Ong from UCLA demonstrates that owners of California multi-unit rental buildings could save up to $18 million a year statewide on the cost of cleaning apartments vacated by tenants who smoke.
Unfortunately, despite efforts to clean up apartments after tenants who smoke move out, nicotine will persist in a house previously occupied by smokers even if the rooms are given fresh layers of paint, new carpeting and standard cleaning, according to a recent study led by Georg Matt of San Diego State University. Additionally, although voluntary smoke-free policies can prevent the health hazards and added costs of secondhand smoke, such policies can be quickly overturned when the landlord or property management company changes hands. As such, more and more cities have passed local ordinances aimed at restricting the damage that secondhand and third hand smoke cause for the residents of multiunit housing.
According to the American Lung Association, as of October 2011, twenty-two local jurisdictions in California have passed smoke free multiunit housing ordinances. Furthermore, in September of this year, California lawmakers passed a law allowing landlords to ban smoking on their properties. While it has always been legal for landlords to do so, this law is intended to raise awareness of the issues and increase the number of smoke-free options for tenants.
Ultimately, smoke-free multiunit housing ordinances aim to protect those most at risk of exposure to second and third hand smoke, especially children, the elderly, and people with heart or lung conditions like asthma. Secondhand smoke results in about 4,000 deaths each year from heart disease and lung cancer, and it is the cause of approximately 31,000 childhood asthma episodes and 4,700 pre-term infant deliveries annually, the UCLA researchers said.
Given what we know about the harm caused by second and third hand smoke, it is essential to protect people where they spend most of their time – in the home. Some advocates believe such policies discriminate against low income tenants who smoke, but the real discrimination is against low-income families who cannot escape exposure to deadly secondhand smoke and cannot find another place to live because of income, health, or other reasons. Low income individuals have less access to health care and are more likely to suffer from conditions, such as asthma, that are worsened by secondhand smoke exposure.
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