Will this kind of test be helpful if residents are claiming that the smoke smell is coming from thirdhand smoke on their clothes or carpets?
A. According to David Bohac, there will be some outgasing of secondhand-smoke compounds after smoking has stopped in a building. Once smoking has stopped for more than a month in a smoking-allowed unit, it is doubtful that tobacco-smoke odors could still be smelled inside a neighboring non-smoking unit. The Center for Energy and Environment conducted some monitoring in bars/restaurants of some gaseous secondhand-smoke compounds such as nicotine, 3-EP, pyridine, and pyrrole for a month after a smoking ban went into place. The concentrations of those four compounds all decreased by a factor of 8 to 16 after a smoking ban was put into place. Also, the smell from outgasing of secondhand-smoke compounds after smoking has stopped in a building would be fairly consistent and not periodic.