The damaging health effects of second-hand smoke are widely recognized by the established scientific community. Second-hand smoke has been linked to lung cancer, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, emphysema and other respiratory conditions.1 Recently, hearing loss in teenage children has been linked to second-hand smoke.2 Third-hand smoke, a newcomer to health concerns, results from compounds in tobacco residue that become embedded in furniture, carpets and other exposed surfaces and can be inhaled for as long as two years after a room where smoking took place on a regular basis is vacated.3
As the known risks associated with smoking increase, so do the number and intensity of smoking-related complaints received by co-op and condominium boards and managers, including demands that building-wide smoking bans be implemented. Smokers or owners concerned with whether a smoking ban will decrease the value of apartments may oppose such bans.4
