{"id":4756,"date":"2019-11-14T14:33:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T14:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.caionline.org\/?p=5228"},"modified":"2019-11-14T14:33:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T14:33:23","slug":"thirdhand-smoke-an-unseen-hazard-might-be-affecting-your-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/thirdhand-smoke-an-unseen-hazard-might-be-affecting-your-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Thirdhand smoke: An unseen hazard might be affecting your home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Adopting smoke-free policies in condominiums and housing cooperatives can help make a community more appealing to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caionline.org\/adopting-smoke-free-policies-in-your-high-rise-community\/\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">potential nonsmoking residents<\/a>. But what if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lingering tobacco odor and yellowish stains on the walls of a unit being sold after its former occupant has moved out?<\/p>\n<p>Both are indicators of residual contamination from cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products\u00e2\u20ac\u201dknown as thirdhand smoke. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/no-smoke.org\/\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Nonsmokers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Rights Foundation<\/a>, a residue of nicotine, tar, and other carcinogens and heavy metals builds up on walls, ceilings, carpets, drapes, and other fabrics, HVAC units, and dust, posing a risk to health if inhaled or ingested.<\/p>\n<p>Removing thirdhand smoke residue requires extensive cleaning beyond vacuuming or dusting\u00e2\u20ac\u201dan expensive and time-consuming proposition for an association if the previous owner has already left. At a minimum, a thorough cleaning of the unit should include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wash walls and ceilings multiple times with hot water and detergent, using rags to avoid pushing residue around.<\/li>\n<li>Remove carpeting and padding, and wash floors before replacing carpeting.<\/li>\n<li>Replace curtains, blinds, and window coverings to prevent chemicals from being released back into the environment.<\/li>\n<li>Clean out vents and replace filters to prevent HVAC systems from recirculating thirdhand smoke into the unit or around the building.<\/li>\n<li>Repaint walls with two or three coats of paint once thoroughly clean.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once the unit is rid of the majority of tobacco residue and ready to be inhabited, remember to ensure that new residents know about the smoke-free policy in your building. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lung.org\/our-initiatives\/tobacco\/smokefree-environments\/multi-unit-housing\/steps-for-effective-smokefree-policies.html\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Lung Association<\/a> recommends reminding residents that they are financially responsible for smoke residue in their unit, enforcing policy violations with a verbal warning or written notice before more serious penalties if the problem persists, and making it clear that residents need to inform guests of the building\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smoke-free policy.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caionline.org\/thirdhand-smoke-an-unseen-hazard-might-be-affecting-your-home\/\">Thirdhand smoke: An unseen hazard might be affecting your home<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caionline.org\/\">Ungated: Community Associations Institute Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Residue from cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products&mdash;known as thirdhand smoke&mdash;can cause carcinogens and heavy metals to build up on walls, ceilings, fabrics, HVAC units, and dust, posing a risk to health if inhaled or ingested.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caionline.org\/thirdhand-smoke-an-unseen-hazard-might-be-affecting-your-home\/\">Thirdhand smoke: An unseen hazard might be affecting your home<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caionline.org\/\">Ungated: Community Associations Institute Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[272,275,369,417,446,871,1362,1862,2290,2291],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4757,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756\/revisions\/4757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}