How do I find entry points for drifting cigarette smoke?

Hello C. Roderick Black P.E.

The most sensitive "smoke detector" is likely to be the nose.

However, a standard domestic Smoke detector, as used in houses to give early warning in case of fire can do the job quite well.

Have the detector portable, with a short hose and low-speed fan built into a 'box' on the hose which has a plastic funnel as an intake.

Move the combined unit around, until the detector beeps, and then the funnel may be removed for pin-point accuracy.

I have used such in multi-apartment situations, and the detector unit was made by "Chubb".

There may be more professional instruments available.

<"This smoke is infiltrating a high-rise apartment from a unit two floors below."> Why not go direct to that apartment, and say to the occupant that the smoking is causing problems.

Often a smoker has no idea that their habit has health problems for others.

As an alternative, if you are unable to move house, and the smoker is unhelpful, you could have an air-conditioning unit with electrostatic filter inbuilt, (that removes the smoke particles), and pressurise your apartment at around 1 psi above atmospheric, which would keep all noxious fumes out of your home.

Kind Regards....

Have you considered maybe just borrowing a dog trained to sniff and find things?

A box of dog cookies is a heck of alot cheaper then a fancy detector, and just as effective.

The smoke is probably migrating via the plumbing and/or heating pipe stacks, and then circulating through the adjacent wall cavities. Check these areas where you can (sometimes there are access doors for shutoffs, etc.).

Some expanding foam where the pipes come through the floor may solve the problem.

I'm guessing that you just have a very sensitive nose. By the way, don't worry about the small amount of cigarette smoke you might be smelling - the radioactive americium in the smoke detector is far more dangerous to your health. Also, do you have a fireplace? Mmmm! Wood smoke is far more carcinogenic than tobacco smoke. Like barbecue? Not only is the smoke carcinogenic, so is the food you've cooked!

If you just don't like the smell of tobacco, that's one thing, but if you think that smelling it is endangering your health forget it. I can smell the tobacco smoke from the car in front of me on the freeway at 65 mph! However, at that dilution it's like smelling the Cologne of the person in the car in front of you. Oh yeah, I'd be a lot more worried about the big gulps I'm taking of what's coming out of his tailpipe and mine! That's all through the air in your place, you just don't notice it anymore.

Hmmmm....

Also, don't toast ham and cheese together (as in a toasted ham and cheese sandwich). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrosamines are formed as a result....

When it reaches a point where you can just smell it, it's like incense. You may not like the smell, but it's so diluted that burning incense in your place would be a bigger danger to your health.

Pressure test the apartment. Block off any known gaps you aren't worried about, then crank up the air pressure from the entrance doorway. You may need to use some coloured smoke or something that smells nasty, but you can pump away and see who complains. They might even be calm enough to explain which bit of their apartment is leaking.