How to eliminate tobacco smoke at home

The world has developed a great awareness of the serious problem that tobacco poses. It's no longer just the strict anti-smoking legislation in public places that has spread across almost all countries but the campaigns to make the harmful effects of tobacco smoke on our health clear.

However, legislation against tobacco smoke and cigarette consumption extends to the public sphere and not to the private, beyond the prohibition in enclosed spaces and hotels. In our homes, the responsibility falls directly on ourselves. It is important to know the harmful effects of tobacco indoors, as well as how to eliminate its smoke in our spaces.

Indoors, it is essential to live smoke-free as much as possible. Due to the tobacco smoke and without proper ventilation in the home or workplace, the air we breathe indoors can be a threat to our health. After all, the lifestyle we lead today means we spend more and more time indoors.

It is not only about the smoke inhaled while a person is smoking, but also the smoke that remains trapped in the environment, known as secondhand smoke. Most people know that tobacco is very harmful and can cause lung cancer, heart disease, or emphysema, but it goes further. According to health authorities, a cigarette can contain 4,000 chemical agents, including ammonia, butane, arsenic, lead, benzene, or common products used in solvents. What are the most common problems of smoking at home even without being a smoker?

• The smoke that non-smokers breathe in having it at home is less than that of smokers, but they can inhale up to 30 contaminants every day.
• Living with secondhand smoke can increase the risk of developing heart problems, lung cancer, and other diseases by 30%.
• In babies, a contaminated home can cause asthma or chronic respiratory problems.
• A non-smoker can develop cancer just by living in a place contaminated by tobacco smoke.
• Toxic air indoors is as toxic as outdoor air or more. We must monitor the levels of stale air as well as what we breathe. A contaminated environment at home without ventilating the rooms can be very harmful.

Beyond the obvious health problems caused by tobacco smoke for people, our homes also suffer and comfort worsens. For example, furniture turns yellow, fabrics at home lose their texture and color, smells become very strong even days after smoking, and the atmosphere becomes stale.

What to do to eliminate tobacco smoke indoors?

Considering the serious problem of living with smoke at home, we need to think about what we can do to eliminate the damage of tobacco indoors. Here is a series of recommendations that you can put into action:

• To eliminate tobacco smoke at home and its contaminants, we must start by not smoking in the house. It's pointless to clean the air indoors if we continue to contaminate it. It's also important to raise awareness among other people who share the home about the importance of not smoking inside.
• Opening windows is essential to remove tobacco air, especially if there is no advanced ventilation solution, such as mechanical air extraction systems.
• It’s possible to acquire a high-density air purifier to eliminate the chemical residues that may remain from tobacco smoke in the home. Many of them can linger indoors for a long time even after no one has smoked in the space.
• It is necessary to detoxify the home. Tobacco smoke is very penetrating and the smell persists even after quitting smoking. To do this, it is necessary to wash all clothing and clean furniture. Curtains and carpets are particularly sensitive, so sometimes it's necessary to hire a professional cleaning service.
• If the problem of contamination from tobacco smoke is very serious, it will be necessary to repaint the walls.
• In case of having air conditioning or climate control equipment, it will be appropriate to change the air filters.

Of all this, the mechanical double flow ventilation systems are the best solution to avoid the problems of tobacco smoke indoors. Thanks to their air extraction and renewal capacity with filtered air, free of impurities, it is a way to eliminate possible problems of smoke in the home. However, it is important to be aware of the need not to smoke at home.