Even if you’re a non-smoker, tobacco smoke can still cause many health problems.  Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), also known as secondhand smoke or passive smoke, contains over 4,000 chemical compounds.  Over 60 of these chemicals are known or suspected of causing cancer.  These chemicals include ammonia, arsenic, cadmium and carbon monoxide.  ETS is classified as a "known human carcinogen" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRAC).

ETS is a combination of 2 forms of smoke:

• Mainstream Smoke – smoke exhaled by smokers
• Sidestream Smoke – smoke coming from the end of a lighted cigarette, cigar or pipe

ETS takes a tremendous toll on human life; an estimated 35,000 deaths occur in the United States from heart disease in individuals who are non-smokers that live with smokers.  In 2006, the U.S. Surgeon General published a report titled: "The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure To Tobacco Smoke".  Here are some of the important conclusions drawn from the report:

• Evidence indicates there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke
• Adults exposed to ETS experience immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system which can lead to coronary heart disease and lung cancer
• Children exposed to ETS are at greater risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Studies have shown that ETS is especially dangerous for children.  Children that are routinely exposed to cigarette smoking are more likely to experience increased frequency of the following:

• Sinus infections
• Middle ear infections
• Asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and other lung diseases

If you live with a smoker who won’t stop smoking, there are ways you can protect yourself from the dangers of ETS.  One way is using a high quality residential air cleaner or smoke eater.  These robust units not only get rid of the smoke, but air purifiers that employ activated carbon can also remove the foul tobacco odor.  The key to selecting an effective smoke eater is to find instruments that offer a high CFM.  The secret to cleaning the air is moving the air.  A high rate of CFM will allow more air exchanges per hour, helping to provide you with clean, fresh smelling air.

If you own a business where the public gathers, you know that second hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke is a major concern.  The American Cancer Society reports that there are over 4,000 individual chemicals present in tobacco smoke, with more than 60 being known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).   Chances are you probably have already invested in a commercial air purifier to combat this problem. There are several traditional ways to solve odor problems: using filters with activated carbon, potassium permanganate, zeolite, ozone, masking agents, essential oils and many others.  What you may not know is that in many commercial environments, using an air purifier with activated carbon or other gas phase media will be expensive because the filters will have to be replaced regularly to be effective.

The harmful ingredients in tobacco are separated into 2 types: airborne particles and gas molecules.  When using a smokeeater, the particles are collected, usually removing between 20-25% of the odor.  The remaining 75-80% is harmful gas molecules such as carbon monoxide, sulfides, diamines, lactones and other carbons.  These remaining gas molecules can be fought with our intelligently designed odor control cartridges that neutralize odor at the molecular level.  This odor control system works by releasing non-toxic, volatile aromatic molecules that react with the gas molecules from the smoke.  This reaction results in a neutralizing effect on the smoke odor.

These innovative odor neutralizing cartridges are ideal for bars, restaurants, bowling centers, bingo halls and casinos.  These cartridges, developed from our own proprietary formula, are inexpensive, easy to use, highly effective and environmentally friendly.  The cartridges can be easily installed into any of our quality line of commercial air purifiers and also feature inexpensive replacement refills.

Not only do these cartridges do the job, they can help you save lots of money on costly replacement filters.  If you are currently using an air purifier that has traditional gas phase media filters, you could spend between $200-$400 per unit, per year on replacement costs.  By using our odor neutralizing cartridge, your replacement costs can be as low as $5 a month!

The AQE CM11 Everclear DeLuxe Smoke Eater boasts of having 44 pounds of activated carbon. Unfortunately, many consumers have absolutely no idea what this means.  Let’s take a look at the science of activated carbon as a medium for adsorbing various types of chemicals and odors.

Activated carbon, also referred to as  activated charcoal, is an amorphous form of carbon.  Carbon is found in all organic life and is the sixth most common element in the universe.  Carbon is present as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is dissolved in all natural waters. "Non-activated"carbon is soot or charcoal.  

Activated carbon is carbon that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms.  The carbon source for activated carbon usually comes from materials such as peanut shells, coconut shells, wood, coal or even peach pits.   The raw carbon is heated without air to produce a high carbon material.  The carbon is activated by passing oxygen gases through the material at very high temperatures.  This activation process produces millions of pores that result in high adsorbtion properties. These activated carbons adsorb odorous substances from gases or liquid vapors,including smoke.  Activated carbon adsorbs odors by attaching to it by chemical attraction.  Many people confuse adsorbtion with absorbtion.  Adsorbtion is the physical attraction and adherence of gas or liquid vapor molecules to the surface of a solid.  Gas and vapor molecules are adsorbed by the solid activated carbon.  Absorbtion is the dissolving and even mixing of a substance in a liquid.  An example would be mixing honey into tea.

 Most reliable, high quality smoke eaters feature between 3.5 and 15 pounds of activated carbon.  Buyers should beware of the many cheap, low quality air purifiers that claim to have filters containing activated carbon. In reality, these air cleaners actually contain a very small amount of carbon dust that is impregnated into a fibrous pre-filter.  It is absolutely impossible for just a few ounces of carbon dust to effectively remove odors from smoking,especially pipes and cigars.  Commercial smoke eaters using several pounds of activated carbon on the other hand, provide a huge surface area for the carbon to "sponge" the offending odors and trap them, allowing fresh smelling air to re-circulate throughout the room.

 Air purifiers containing large amounts of activated carbon are particularly useful to individuals suffering Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) because they adsorb irritating material from the air such as formaldehyde, commonly found in carpeting and furniture upholstery.  If you own a restaurant that allows smoking, a good restaurant smokeeater with several pounds of activated carbon can provide immediate relief. 

 Dave Kuck, Air Purification Specialist with BPA Air Quality Solutions, says:"To do a good job of eliminating smoke odors, your air cleaner has to have lots of activated carbon.  With 44 pounds, the AQE CM11 Everclear Deluxe has the most of any commercial air cleaner I’ve seen".

I regularly have customers ask me about how effective a smoke eater can be for removing cigar smoke in their cigar bars, country clubs, lounges or retail outlets where they allow cigar smoking. Many question if a smoke eater unit can be effective enough to remove the smoke and odors to an acceptable level. Some have even commented that they have witnessed systems that do not perform up to par.

An important thing to remember, when you are selecting a smoke removal system for cigar smoke, is that cigar smoke is much more concentrated than cigarette smoke. Cigar smoke contains more particles and more chemical fumes and VOCs (Volitile Organic Compounds) than cigarette smoke.

There are two main things to consider when dealing with cigar smoke:

1. Choosing the Right Smoke Removal Technology

While electrostatic air cleaners work very well for cigarette smoke, most electrostatic units lack enough gas phase media to effectively remove the fumes and odors from cigar smoke. I always recomend a media based air cleaning system or at least a system with several pounds of granulated activated carbon and potassium permanganate.

The Everclear Deluxe HEPA Air Cleaner for example, has 44 pounds of gas phase media blend that is specially formulated to deal with heavy tobaco smoke. Some electrostatic units, such as the SE50 and Smokeeter LS systems do boast a decent ammount of granulated activated carbon, which can help reduce odors and exposure to toxic chemical fumes. Make sure to check and see that there are several pounds before selecting a model.

Many smoke eaters will advertise that they have carbon, some are merely a few grams of carbon embedded into a foam pad, this will not be enough to get the job done!

2. Properly Sizing the Smoke Removal System

Airflow is very important; the best unit in the world will not be effective if it is not delivering enough airflow. I would suggest a little overkill when dealing with cigar or pipe smoke. We use a formula to determine how many CFM (cubic feet per minute) are needed based on the volume of air in a particular establishment.

To do this, first figure out the total volume of air:

length X width X height = cubic feet of air

Next, divide the total cubic feet by 60 (as in 60 minutes in an hour)

The answer is how many CFM are require to do one complete air exchange.

For cigar smoke we like to achieve between 14 and 20 air exchanges per hour, depending on how many smokers and the desired results.

Multiply the number of desired air exchanges per hour, this will be the number of CFM you will need from your smoke eaters.

Below I give an example using a 25′ X 25′ room with 10′ ceilings. I want to achieve 16 air exchanges per hour to deal with my average of 4-5 smokers at a time:

25X25X10= 6,250 cubic feet
6250/60 = 104.167 cfm for one air exchange

104.167 X 16 = 1666.667 CFM

So I will need about 1667 CFM to deal with my smoke problem.

If you are looking for a dependable, easy to use and value priced smoke eater for your home, office, bar or restaurant, the Trion electronic air cleaner SE400E or SE800E may be just what you need. These units are the most popular smoke eaters in the extensive BPA product line. These electronic air cleaners are low profile and work for just about any installation application.

These electronic air cleaners utilize what air quality experts refer to as “Coanda Aerodynamic Principle”. Coanda uses a 360 degree airflow pattern that is the most efficient way to circulate air. The Coanda principle takes advantage of the natural, upward movement of air. Polluted indoor air naturally enters the bottom of the air cleaners and clean air recirculates in all 4 directions. Install the SE400E or SE800E directly overhead in problem areas to capture smoke and particles BEFORE they disperse. This eliminates what is referred to as “dead spots”. These units also provide a nice savings on air conditioning and heating costs as the air is recirculated inside the building, as opposed to being exhausted outside. The coanda airflow patern prevents heavy drafts associated with “pass-thru” air purifiers.