Air Purifier News

Trying to clear the air on a burning topic

As he slept in his Mendham condo, Don Williams often was awakened by the choking odor of his downstairs neighbor's cigarette smoke.

"It was just ghastly," Williams recalled. "Her computer was right below my bed, and she'd be on the computer in the middle of the night, smoking. Her smoke would invariably end up in my apartment."

Williams endured the secondhand smoke for years. But after his neighbor moved, he and the other owners of the 12-unit Mendham Knolls complex amended the condo's bylaws to ban smoking.

The Mendham Knolls case reflects the growing debate over secondhand smoke in apartments and condos. The issue is getting attention following a new state law that bans smoking in most public places, as well as a recent warning from the U.S. surgeon general that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Smoking bans have been put into effect in dozens of buildings across the nation -- especially in California. A large Virginia-based landlord, First Centrum

But such actions are still relatively rare. In most buildings, less radical solutions are tried when a non-smoking resident complains.

"It's not always an easy thing to resolve," said Suzanne Alstrom of Impac Property Management in Fort Lee, which manages three multi-unit buildings in Hackensack and Fort Lee.

Non-smokers bothered by their neighbors' fumes generally start diplomatically, by appealing to the smokers' neighborly instincts. Often, smokers will agree to keep their windows open, even in winter, said Doreen Ercolano, rental manager at the 1,300-unit Brookchester Apartments in New Milford.

In addition, the residents or the landlord can try to plug up the leaks and cracks that allow secondhand smoke to seep into neighbors' apartments, by sealing and caulking around pipes, radiators, and the place where the wall meets the floor.

Weather-stripping under the door and insulation of the heating and ventilation system can also help, according to Steven Wielkocz, health officer for Fort Lee, where 10,500 people live in multi-unit buildings. Alstrom said air filters and purifiers also can help.

Williams, a musician, tried all these things to block out his neighbor's smoke. She got an air purifier, and he caulked and sealed every electrical outlet, floor crack and vent he could reach.

"I did everything," he said. "I don't think it made any difference." For him, the smoking ban was the only answer.

But landlords, condo associations and building managers are often hesitant to get tough on smokers.

"This is their home," Alstrom said. "I don't think you could tell people how to live within their apartment."

A West Virginia-based smokers' rights group called FORCES makes the same point.

"In our country, your home is your castle," said Maryetta Ables, president of FORCES, which also says there is no credible scientific evidence that secondhand smoke is harmful.

Anti-smoking activists, however, say landlords and condo or co-op associations are well within their rights to ban smoking throughout a building.

"There's no constitutional right to free-base nicotine," said Regina Carlson, executive director of the anti-smoking group New Jersey GASP (Group Against Smoking Pollution). "Smoking is not a right, it's a drug addiction. It's a public health problem, and it's a fire hazard."

John Banzhaf, executive director of the national anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said condo and apartment dwellers began asking for smoke-free homes about a decade ago. While some condo boards and landlords have decided to go smoke-free voluntarily, in other buildings residents have gone to court, he said.

He said more and more non-smokers are asking: "If I don't have to put up with secondhand smoke on an airplane, in my office or in a public building, why should I put up with it at home?"

And, the activists say, there is plenty of precedent for banning smoking in homes. First, they argue, it's no different from asking people to keep quiet at night. In addition, in many child custody cases, parents are banned from smoking around the children, even in their own homes.

NJ GASP says it gets at least one call per week on secondhand smoke in multi-unit dwellings. Karen Blumenfeld, the group's lawyer, says complaints rise in winter when people close their windows and there's less fresh air inside.

The group usually advises non-smokers about steps others have taken. Some residents have asked their local health officer to investigate or file a complaint against a smoking neighbor under local nuisance codes.

In addition, said Blumenfeld, "if it's a condo or co-op, there may be stuff in the by-laws that can be used [against smoking] regarding residents' use and enjoyment of their property."

Wielkocz said he gets about five complaints a year about smoke in apartments or condos in Fort Lee. He hasn't brought any secondhand-smoke complaints under the nuisance laws, in part because he prefers to work with more specific ordinances and because it would be too difficult to prove which apartment the smoke is coming from.

He also believes municipal judges might be reluctant to crack down on smoking in the privacy of a home.

"It's perfectly clear that you can smoke in your own residence," Wielkocz said. When he gets complaints, he usually tries to help by asking the smoker and the building management to cooperate to lessen the effects of the secondhand smoke.