Staying in a nonsmoking room in a hotel that allows smoking elsewhere does not prevent exposure to tobacco smoke, a study reports. Writing in Tobacco Control, researchers examined 10 hotels with smoking bans and 30 with designated smoking rooms. At their worst, levels of tobacco air pollutants were almost five times as high in nonsmoking rooms as they were in rooms of nonsmoking hotels, and pollution of surfaces was up to 25 times as high. "Smokers leave a legacy behind that they cannot control," said lead author, Georg Matt, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University. "The physical reservoirs — in the fabrics, the blankets, the upholstery, the drywall — are very deep, and you can't just take them out."
New York Times
