Echo Lake Apartments Recognized as Gold Certified

From Florida Dep't of Health: It’s a golden accomplishment! The Florida Apartment Association has recognized Echo Lake Apartments at Lakewood Ranch as a Gold Certified Smoke-Free Multifamily property. This certification signifies that there is no smoking throughout the entire community.

According to the Florida Apartment Association, smoke-free multiunit housing is in demand among Florida’s renters and a growing nationwide trend. More than 83 percent of adults in Florida do not smoke, and four out of five of them would prefer to live in smoke-free housing.

Tobacco smoke can move through air ducts and cracks in the walls and floors, elevator shafts and along plumbing and electrical lines affecting neighboring units.[i],[ii] Therefore, even residents who don’t smoke benefit from these programs, as tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals; hundreds of which are toxic and at least 70 known to cause cancer.[iii] Exposure, even for short periods of time, can be dangerous.[iv]

Not only does smoking present a health issue, it presents a safety one as well. According to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly 90,000 structure fires were caused in 2011 by smoking materials, leading to a loss of 540 lives, 1,640 injuries and nearly $621 million in direct property damage.

“A home should be a safe place for everyone, especially for children, people with existing health conditions, and the elderly who are more vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke,” said Rachel Guy, Tobacco Prevention Specialist at DOH-Manatee. “By making sure that residential buildings are 100 percent smoke-free, property managers are protecting tenants from the dangers of toxic smoke and from the risk of deadly smoking-related fires.”

[i] Office of the Surgeon General. The Surgeon General’s call to action to promote healthy homes. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, 2009.

[ii] Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General. Children and secondhand smoke exposure: excerpts from The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: a report of the Surgeon General. 2007.

[iii] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010.

[iv] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006

Image via Pixabay