Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rebecca L. Ryan, who is the director of health education and public policy for the American Lung Association in Vermont.
The American Red Cross’ recent article pertaining to house fires is a reminder that smoking in your home poses a threat to you, your family members and to our collective lung health. The damage is only magnified when fires arise in multi-unit housing, like the fire that occurred in a Winooski apartment building over the summer. While thankfully no one died in that fire, it is important to remember that six Vermonters have died due to fires caused by smoking materials in the last five years. The Vermont Department of Public Safety reports that although the number of fires caused by smoking materials has decreased since the fire-safe cigarette law passed in 2006, the number one cause of civilian fire deaths in 2012 was due to smoking materials.
Fire danger is not the only reason to worry about burning tobacco products in an apartment building. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, there is no safe level of secondhand smoke. It’s especially dangerous for children, the elderly and anyone with a chronic disease. Secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of learning disabilities in children and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). It causes asthma in children and increases the risk of a heart attack and lung cancer in adults. Even family pets suffer if exposed to secondhand smoke; they are more likely to develop cancer.
Smoke does not stay in the apartment of the smoker; it moves through outlets and microscopic cracks in the walls and floors and shared ventilation systems. It seeps in and out of windows and doors – even closed ones.
The walls of an apartment or condominium do not protect non-smoking occupants from a neighbor’s smoke. Smoke does not stay in the apartment of the smoker; it moves through outlets and microscopic cracks in the walls and floors and shared ventilation systems. It seeps in and out of windows and doors – even closed ones. According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the only way to effectively remove dangerous toxins from smoking is to ban smoking.
More and more Vermont property managers are recognizing the benefits of adopting smoke-free building policies. Cathedral Square, Burlington Housing Authority, Rural Edge, Central Vermont Land Trust, and the Housing Trust of Rutland County are gradually phasing in smoke-free policies in all their buildings. The Rutland Housing Authority properties are all smoke-free and the Vermont State Housing Authority properties will be smoke-free in January. These managers recognize that by adopting smoke-free policies, they reduce fire risk, improve the health of tenants, and save money by lower apartment turnover costs and insurance premiums.
Smoke-free policies are not just about the smoker; they are about the smoke. They do not force anyone to move from their home; they simply regulate where people can smoke. For many smokers, a smoke-free building policy may be the motivation they need to quit. Fortunately, the Vermont Quitnetwork (1-800-QUIT-NOW) provides free smoking cessation counseling and nicotine replacement therapy.
Vermont community coalitions, hospital-based smoking cessation programs and Support and Services at Home (SASH) are teaming up with the American Lung Association to help property managers to implement smoke-free policies. To learn more about smoke-free housing policy, visit the American Lung Association’s smoke-free housing website at www.smokefreehousingvt.org or call 1-800-LUNG-USA, Option 1.
