Non Smoker Having Problems with Secondhand Smoke in Home

Updated on November 04, 2006
C.S. asks from Saco, ME
4 answers

This is my first request so bare with me. My family and I recently moved into an apartment due to our last home having mold. After discovering mold we moved out instantly and now have been here since July 1st. I've noticed since we've started living here that my son whose two and has only one cold his whole life has gotten even sicker. My daughter who is turning 6 months old has been having a hard time breathing and coughing a lot. I'm extremely concerned about their health not to mention my husband's and mine as well. I too have been having a hard time breathing myself not to menion a stuff nose every single day. I've thought that maybe we just have colds. Once the colds went we continued to have dificulty breathing normally. I am also breastfeeding and know what I breathe goes into my breastmilk, so not only is she inhaling it she's digesting it as well, and it's extremely nerve racking! I can't even enjoy a night out in my livingroom with my family because it seeps through everything and it smells awful. I've tolerated about just enough of all of this and am at the end of my rope. There must be some time of law protecting my family against this.(one thing I also forgot to mention is that there are three floors to this building. The stairs are inside and there are quite a bit of smokers in my building, but there is also another one on the first floor with oxygen tanks. I don't feel that there should be smoking allowed because it dangerous to all of us.)I plan on calling my landlord in the morning. However, what I want to know is if there are other options out there for me if my landlord doesn't try and help sort out this problem. I have a year lease that isn't up until June 30, 2007. I looked into this site http://www.smokefreeforme.org/tenant.php?page=Tenants%27+... and it told me that getting airfilters or what not to clean the air will not solve the problem. PLEASE HELP!!!I'm extremely concerned for my family!!!

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So What Happened?

I contacted my pediatrician and told them what was going on and what concerns I had. They got me right in. We discussed the fact that we had recently moved (our last night there was June 29, 2006) out of a home that did infact have mold. She listened to my children's lungs and asked me what color the mold was. She told me that they didn't think that mold was a factor in anything. Had it been, we would have seen the symptoms closer to the beginning of the 4 months of being out of that home. Yes, she did say that mold is extremely dangerous in short term and even more so in long term exposures.I've always been one to get my children to their check ups when they are supposed to, so they've been throughly checked. I then brought up the fact that there are smokers in my building and that my apartment gets the second hand smoke. She informed me that there is no safe amount of exposure and that there is a test to do on the children to see if there is infact nicotine in their system from this. She gave me the choice to either get their urine tested or get their blood drawn. I opted for the urine sample to make it as less painful of a proceedure as possible. I have to bring the samples in tomorrow to our local hospital, and I'll have the results in a few days. In the mean time, I did put in a phone call to my landlord Saturday morning explaining what was going on and how concerned it made me and to let them know that I was infact taking my children into see their pediatrician on Monday. I never got a phone call back. I did however look up local laws concerning this issue and said that it could also be considered disturbance of the peace. If you aren't able to sit in your home comfortable because of this it does infact fall into this catagory. I have yet to contact the local police department and to put this effort forward. I want to see if this situation can be handle with less amount of people as possible. I will be contacting my lawyer to see if there is anyother type law protecting my family and to see what he has to say. I would like to thank each and everyone of you that gave me advice on this such controversial subject. I know it is definately difficult and there are mothers out there that do smoke and that's by their choice, however, my choice is to keep it away from my family and I'm a strong believe of fighting for what you believe in. I'd also like to thank that one person that told me that I could fight this long battle and be THAT person. That statement really got me thinking. I want whats best for my family's health and if I need to fight for that then I will. Thanks again!

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.T.

answers from Springfield on

Hi Casondra,
I am sorry to hear you are having such a hard time... CHildren being sick is never fun. I know as a child, I suffered from a lot of ear, nose and throat problems due to second hand smoke, that have stuck with me my entire life. My children today, when around my father a lot, tend to get ear infections, and cold symptoms... it's hard to stay away, but also harder to get him to slow down or stop with the smoking. I would first caution you to make sure that you all do not have remnants of the mold in your systems, continuing to make you sick. It can get into your lungs and stick with you for a long time unfortunately. Then i would definately go through your landlord as you were planning to do. Then, if there is no action, I believe there are community programs to help tennants with issues such as this one. As far as the oxygen in the building, my aunt is a smoker, and unbelieveably would shut off her tank to smoke another cigarette... Someone in her building called the fire department and asked if she should be doing this. They came to the building, checked her apartment, and told her she was not allowed to smoke around oxygen, and if she continued, she would have to move. They also told people in the building that it was not safe to smoke in the building as well. Not sure if this will help you, but I thought i'd try. Good luck with getting help, and hope you all get healthy very soon.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.C.

answers from Buffalo on

Well i can totaly understand what you are going through. I also just moved out the house we lived in due to balck toxic mold. We lived there for 2 years and I my self have asthma. My daughter has had pnemonia twice while living in that house and her dr says he believes it is from the mold so be very carefull. Also the neighbors down stairs were smokers and they smoked in the basment and it came up through my heat vents. I recently moved to a complex thinking i was going to get away from all of that. But comr to find out i am living in a building with three smokers. There are only 4 units in this building. They are not aloud to smoke in the hallway but every time they open their door it all goes in the hallway and seaps through my door into my livingroom. I wish you good luck with dealing with this it is a ery hard issue to solve. Any other questions dont hesitate to ask.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.S.

answers from Boston on

Calling the landlord is a good starting point. I have been a landlord in the past and required all my tenants to sign a non-smoking lease.

If your landlord is non-responsive, call in the lead inspectors. If your house was built before 1970, you've got lead paint. Every year the laws raise the bar for lead abatement. So, even if he did lead abatement a few years ago, he probably wouldn't pass the current standards. If they find lead, he has to move you to a new place, or he be lucky to let you break your lease and leave.

Side note. The lead paint in your apartment, unless it's peeling isn't dangerous to your kids. The law errs on the side of caution to the point of insanity. ie, you have to get rid of it six feet off the ground now.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.M.

answers from Rochester on

i dont really think the breathing problems are from the smoking.... while they may be making it worse, i think the mold that was in your previous home had a big part in it. all of you should get checked ASAP, it's better to be safe thank sorry, becuz for all you know it could be toxic and that's not good for any of you. Did you own this home or rent? if you rented, make sure you save the doc bills and whatever come with that for the landlord to pay for.... it could end up in court, becuz that isn't a safe place to live, and he let people live there, and it may have been there for a long time. i have a friend who got extremely sick from it and it currently fighting her landlord becuz of the harm it caused her. please take your family to the doctors, and if you primary doc blows it off, see someone who will take you seriosly.... mold is nothing to joke with and it can do alot of damage... especially to a infant. god luck.... let us know how it goes... but i don't think anthing can be done in the apartment building about the smoke... but i did hear that the Ionic breeze is very good for that kind of thing. they're pretty expensive, but try the www.sharperimage.com and see what they have. :)

1 mom found this helpful
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