2. Environmental Tobacco Smoke
by Admin
Posted on 07-03-2025 10:40 AM
Environmental tobacco smoke is the secondhand smoke exhaled by smokers and the sidestream
smoke from the burning of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.
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Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning of tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars or pipes and the smoke exhaled by smokers. Secondhand smoke is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ets). Exposure to secondhand smoke is sometimes called involuntary or passive smoking. Secondhand smoke, classified by epa as a group a carcinogen, contains more than 7,000 substances. Secondhand smoke exposure commonly occurs indoors, particularly in homes and cars. Secondhand smoke can move between rooms of a home and between apartment units. Opening a window or increasing ventilation in a home or car is not protective from secondhand smoke.
4. Stoves, Heaters, Fireplaces and Chimneys
Carbon monoxide is a by-product of the burning of fossil fuels. It is an odorless gas that can become fatal within minutes if inhaled at high concentrations.
Heaters, furnaces, stoves, fireplaces, and gas-powered equipment can all emit carbon monoxide in various concentrations if not used and maintained properly. Exposure to low levels of carbon monoxide can make a person feel tired. As concentration levels increase, there may be chest pain, vision impairment, and mild brain deficiency. At higher concentrations of carbon monoxide, a person may experience headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and loss of coordination.
With so much time spent indoors, you want to have the best air quality possible. While many homeowners have pets and wood-burning fireplaces, there are ways to mitigate some air quality repercussions. To keep your air as pure as possible, you should: engage in professional mitigation of dangerous or damaged materials, including those damaged by smoke or water. Change your ac, furnace, and humidifier filters regularly (at least once per quarter. Have your air ducts professionally cleaned. Improve home ventilation and have gas-fired home appliances (stoves, furnaces, heaters, dryers) maintained yearly by a professional. Use the range hood to vent fluorocarbons when using a gas cooktop.
What Makes Indoor Air Unhealthy?
Improve ventilation by increasing the amount of fresh air entering a space. Open windows and doors in areas that don’t have hvac systems and use fans to bring in fresh air from outside. In buildings with hvac systems, change settings to increase the amount of fresh air. Open windows or use exhaust fans to stop steam from building up in the kitchen and bathroom. Avoid bringing in air from outside when outdoor air is unhealthy. If it’s too hot indoors and you need to cool off find a place to get cool. Use indoor air cleaners such as heating, ventilation, and air condition systems (hvacs) or portable devices.
Volatile organic compounds (vocs) are chemicals containing carbon that evaporate into the atmosphere at room temperature. Formaldehyde is one of the most common vocs. Vocs often have an odour and are present in a wide range of household products, construction materials, and new furnishings. Household products that contain vocs include paints, varnishes, adhesives, synthetic fabrics, cleaning agents, scents, and sprays. Vocs can also result from personal activities, such as smoking or vaping. When used in building products or other indoor items, vocs slowly make their way to the surface of the material and ‘off-gas’ into the surrounding air. Most off-gassing occurs when products are new or freshly installed, after which it lessens dramatically over time.