Second hand smoke in flat testing

mwpt

Hello,

We're renting a flat in London. It's mid floor in a block that was built, I think, around 2007. It's not a conversion in a house so presumably floorboards are solid etc. My wife was tested during pregnancy for carbon monoxide levels of 6, which is light smoker. We do not and have never smoked. The midwife was sceptical about this as apparently it doesn't just come about from walking around in London (or everyone would test at that level).

We're mortified about what this might be doing to the baby's health.

We had the boiler tested but now we're starting to suspect second hand smoke in the flat as we believe we can smell a background smell whenever we come home. We don't know where it would be getting in but I do know the person below us smokes weed and I often see people hanging out of their balconies smoking several times a night diagonally below us too. Perhaps the smoke is blowing up the building and through gaps in the windows.

We are probably going to move but before we take that option, does anyone know if there is a home testing company or other method we can employ that will scan our curtains, carpets, bedding, floors, etc and detect if there is a problem? We don't want to move if there isn't a real problem with the flat.

[Deleted User]

Health visitor didn't know what she was talking about. This link says (level 5-9) possible smoking. And the level was at the lowest in the range. Sometimes these people read a paragraph and condemn you as if they are an expert. I think this is being over thought. a level of 10 (plus) would be expected in a smoker so no where near the iffy range.

https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/breathing-tests/exhaled-carbon-monoxide-test

The second link illustrates this lack of knowledge, can't make accusations of smoking when client denies it, without testing ambient C02 levels.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1052406/

But even so, remember the level was low. I am afraid we have had air pollution (from fires/industry) for hundreds of years and still do. Its possible but not always easy to live in a place without pollution of some kind. And we still survive. However, I wouldn't recommend living near a motorway or busy A road.

anselld

You can get CO detectors which give a ppm reading, eg ...
https://www.safelincs.co.uk/detecting-low-level-carbon-monoxide/

CO is a gas, it doesn't stick to bedding and furnishing so ventilate and it will be gone (maybe not so much in London!). Test the rooms with the detector then leave it in the room where the boiler is.

mwpt

Thanks for the responses. I will order one of those detectors.

However, from what I understand, second hand smoke is dangerous to our and babies health regardless of the CO levels. There are other factors at play, not just CO.

Is that correct? Is there a way to also measure second hand smoke levels in the apartment? As mentioned, it's not strong but we're sure we can smell something on our curtains, bedding and carpets and we're not sure what it is.

Flugelhorn

second hand smoke is a problem but you have to be in the same room / car as someone smoking - not in another flat.

Skiddaw1

When I quit smoking some years ago the nice NHS smoking cessation nurse told me that in urban situations it's quite common to read 5 or 6 on the carbon monoxide detector thing plus some people naturally have a higher base reading than others.



Having said that, I'm sure it is worrying for you both. Have you been tested too? If you're both getting elevated readings it might indeed suggest there's something going on with the flat. If it's only your wife it might not be significant.