If someone is actively smoking a cigarette at the exact time of testing, it’s a very simple matter to detect the chemicals caused by this smoking. It’s another matter to test after the cigarette has been extinguished. Yes we’ll still find chemical markers that indicate active smoking has occurred. This testing is very important in new construction or remodeling when applying for LEEDs credits.
American Air Testing can test for 2nd and 3rd hand cigarette smoke.
Here are the problems with the interpretation:
If this is a multi-family or commercial building the chemical markers for second and third hand cigarette smoke may be present on test results. It is still impossible to know if the chemicals came from someone actually smoking in the space or were brought inside by a heating and cooling systems, or numerous other ways. Yes, the levels of the chemicals that we find are can be used as an indicator as to whether the smoking was long-term and heavy, light, moderate, etc.
There are over 4000 chemical compounds, many of these chemicals can also be emitted by multiple source, are at such low levels (ppb) that they can’t be monitored or are not volatile enough (like nicotine) to stay in the air for very long, So, the ability to predict that tobacco smoke is present in the air, especially after smoking activity has ceased, becomes a much more difficult task. We are able to isolate specific chemical markers that have been determined by recent leading edge research to be present when tobacco is or has been burned. This makes it an invaluable test for anyone wanting to know if an apartment, home, or house they’re planning to occupy can be considered a smoke-free environment. It is also beneficial for the life insurance companies who want assurance that their applicants are living in an environment free from the effects of secondhand smoke.
Second hand smoke marker compounds that are used as surrogates, i.e., tobacco smoke marker compounds, for the thousands of chemical compounds present in tobacco smoke. Some of these markers include 2,5-Dimethylfuran, 3-Ethenylpyridine, and Nicotine. These marker compounds could indicate the presence of tobacco smoke when they are present above the detection limit.
We define second hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke as the mixture of smoke generated by side-stream smoke or the burning of tobacco products, and the mainstream smoke exhaled by smokers. This also includes third hand smoke or stale tobacco smoke – the smoke residue that has off-gassed into the air and is still present after smoke has ceased.
