Second and third-hand smoke (off-gassing chemicals) harms kids and pets, and since they have small lungs and take more breaths per minute than adults, we really need to do all we can to protect them from second-hand smoke. This post contains valuable inside info from a former IAQ professional on the best way to remove second-hand smoke, the information I assure you won’t find anywhere else. 

If you live in an apartment next to a smoker, or you have chemical problems in your living area because someone smoked in your place before you moved in, you have a serious problem. Second-hand smoke will ‘off-gas’ and will continue to pollute your indoor air until you do something to remediate the smoke damage. It will not only make the air you breath smell bad, but it will also destroy your health over time, weakening your immune system and opening you up for respiratory illness and disease. In other words, it’s not something that can or should be ignored. If you find yourself in a situation like this, you should become proactive.

Addressing this situation requires a one-two punch. If the air you breath is contaminated from off-gassing from any one of the thousands of chemicals found in third-hand smoke, or any chemicals for that matter, you will be well advised to purchase a carbon-based air purifier and an ozone generator. When I sold air purifiers, I researched the specs on all air purifiers and air cleaners and ended up choosing to become a dealer for Airpura because of their superior design. For second and third-hand smoke and chemicals, you want a lot of carbon to absorb those chemicals and you want to perform ozone shock treatments (when nobody is home) to break down the chemicals that penetrated all surfaces and get rid of them for good. The Airpura T-600 carbon machine holds more carbon than any other VOC and smoke removal air cleaner, 26 lbs not counting the cannister (other models count the weight of the cannister – not Airpura – they’re an honest company). And here’s the good news – you’ll never have to replace the carbon if you “ozone shock” the carbon from time to time! It will take months for the carbon to “fill up” with chemicals – thus not being able to absorb any more – but you can recharge and make the carbon good as new by running the machine in a room with any of our ozone generators every now and then. (depending on the smoke damage – when nobody is home) The ozone will break down whatever the carbon absorbed, thus freeing it up to soak up more chemicals and be more effective. If you have a second – third-hand smoke problem, utilizing the T-600 and an ozone shock treatment ozone generator such as the ones we sell is the best way to sanitize your air and remove second-hand smoke or chemicals. 

What is you just use the carbon air purifier without utilizing ozone? You won’t be able to get the same great results. The carbon air cleaner will remove the chemicals in the air, but when all surfaces are off-gassing chemicals, it’s impossible to keep up. (it can only reduce, not eliminate those chemicals) An ozone shock treatment, on the other hand, can break down the surface chemicals and destroy the hydrogen bonds – breaking them down into harmless substances. Now it must be said, that some of those substances are tiny particles that are not good to breathe in, so utilizing a carbon air cleaner to suck those up AND more importantly, drawing in fresh air after each ozone shock treatment is essential if the goal is to promote good health and provide clean, purified air. How is this done? By opening all of the windows and then facing a powerful fan on one of the lower floor windows blowing the air in the structure outside (with the rest of the window sealed off) This creates a negative pressure situation that will draw fresh air from outside, and remove the broken down chemicals and VOC’s. When you’re done, for a while at least, the substrates in your home will no longer leach toxic chemicals and volatile organic compounds into your air. Your Airpura air cleaner can then provide backup until the next ozone shock treatment. During the summer months, since heat causes chemicals to leach out faster than during the winter, it’s okay to perform ozone shock treatments ever 2 or 3 days for a month or so (if the smoke damage was extensive or in a new home situation with a lot of off-gassing gules and finishes) 

Second-hand smoke damage to the substrates in the structure, also called third-hand smoke damage, covers every square inch of your home with thousands of toxic chemicals that will continue to leach out for many many years. The area is basically a toxic environment in need of a clean-up effort. No air purifier or air cleaner is able to remove any of those off-gassing chemicals. They can only remove a very small amount of the chemicals in the air in real-time before you breathe them in. You MUST do ozone shock treatments (when nobody is home) to break down and remove those chemicals or pay ServePro thousands of dollars to do the job. Or, you can buy our 30,000 to 80,000 commercial ozone generator and do it yourself and then make the money it cost to purchase the machines back by renting it out locally or doing shock treatments on the side. (better idea)