Smoking and Indoor Air Quality

On average, Canadians spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. As a result, the quality of indoor air can have a significant impact on our health.
In the absence of sufficient ventilation, indoor air can become contaminated by chemicals from the building materials and stored chemical products; gases from cooking and heating appliances; bacteria, fungi, mould and plant spores; animal hair and dander; dust and insects.

But the most harmful and widespread contaminant of indoor air is tobacco smoke.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or second-hand smoke

ETS is a combination of exhaled smoke and the smoke produced by an idling cigarette, cigar or pipe. It consists of solid particles, liquids and gases.

Scientists have identified more than 4,000 different chemical compounds in ETS, including nicotine, carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, arsenic, dioxins and furans. More than 50 of these substances are known carcinogens. Others are known or suspected mutagens, capable of changing the genetic structure of cells. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently declared ETS to be a class-A-carcinogen.

Many of the components of ETS are also found in industrial effluents where they are treated as hazardous waste.

Health effects

Exposure to ETS for brief periods can produce eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea, coughing and wheezing. ETS can markedly aggravate symptoms in people with allergies or asthma. Long-term exposure has been linked to heart disease and cancer. In young children, exposure to ETS can result in chronic respiratory illness, impaired lung function and middle ear infections. ETS can retard the growth and development of fetuses, resulting in low birth weight and a greater likelihood of complications during pregnancy and delivery.

Controls

Increasing ventilation will dilute the smoke but will not make it safe, since there is no known safe level of exposure to carcinogens. Restricting smokers to separate rooms will only work if these rooms have their own ventilation systems.

Electronic air filters and air "purifiers" may remove some smoke particles from the air, but they cannot remove those that have settled on food, furnishing, skin and other surfaces. Their effect on the gaseous components of ETS is unknown.

There is only one way to eliminate ETS from indoor air; remove the source.