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1. What can you do if smoke comes into your unit?

If your building has a no-smoking policy:

• Ask your building manager to make sure the rules are followed/enforced
• Ask for "No Smoking" signs to be posted where everyone can see them

If smoking is allowed in your building, you can:

• Consider talking to the person smoking; ask politely if he or she would smoke outside away from the building
• Ask your building manager about making your building smoke-free

Building owners have the right to make their building smoke-free. Many state and local governments have resources to help owners or managers make their building smoke-free. Units can also be made nonsmoking as they become vacant or when the lease is renewed.

A smoke free policy can:

• Protect health
• Reduce the risk of fire
• Lower upkeep and cleaning costs
• Reduce insurance rates

Talk with your neighbors:

• Ask if smoke is getting into other homes too - ask if they have health problems made worse by secondhand smoke
• Ask them to help you make where you live smoke-free
• Together, have a meeting with your building owner or manager
• The more people who ask for a change, the more likely it will happen

2. What is thirdhand smoke?

Thirdhand smoke refers to the toxins from cigarette smoke that get left on the surfaces of objects, becoming more toxic over time. Have you ever stood near someone who wasn't smoking yet still smelled like tobacco smoke? That smell is from thirdhand smoke.

3. Is thirdhand smoke harmful?

Through thirdhand smoke, people can be exposed to the same toxins found in tobacco smoke. Low levels of toxins can build up to dangerous levels in the body. This can cause learning problems for children.

If you have thirdhand smoke on your clothes and then cuddle your baby, your baby can breathe in these toxins. Babies have tiny lungs and breathe rapidly, so more tobacco toxins get into their bodies.

4. Where can thirdhand smoke be found?

Thirdhand smoke gets on:

• Clothes
• Hair
• Skin
• Carpets
• Furniture
• Toys
• Car seats, and many other surfaces

Thirdhand smoke can stay on unwashed surfaces for days, weeks and even months.