I Hope Hilton Goes Smoke Free
Sep 17, 2006, 12:22 pm
#106
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Bryn Mawr PA & Wailea HI
Posts: 15,726
Most Hiltons and other large hotels have most, if not all, heating and A/C systems all connected to a common system, ie when smoking happens in one room it is spread to all other rooms in the hotel and thus spread diluted but still spread. I have notice it quite often and so do the unfortunate guests who have asthma, allergies to smoke, breathing difficulties or other lung related problems. Tobacco smoke aint a wonder medicine folks..........it is a nasty collection of very bad substances proven to often cause difficult to cure immediate and long term problems.
MisterNice
MisterNice
Sep 17, 2006, 1:44 pm
#107
Moderator: American AAdvantage
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MisterNice has it right - though some Hilton family properties DO have separate room air conditioners in preference to central HVAC. It's really not about the rights of somene to perform what they inevitably call a voluntary act - it really is about people not being exposed to smoke.
Why? Because smoke (you knew this, as you learned it in high school or before) has carbon monoxide, an odorless, etc. gas, which haemoglobin has ~210 times greater affinity for than oxygen. (Carboxyhaemoglobin loads n smokers and non-smokers may not return to normal for eight hours.)
This means those with respiratory or circulatory disorders will have lower blood oxygen (oxyhaemoglobin) levels than others, which can cause everything from cardiovascular distress and angina in someone with heart disease to respiratory distress to those with any kind of respiratory impairment. Not to mention what effect it has on pregnant women, infants and children. Add in the vasoconstrictive effect of nicotine in tobacco smoke, you have a recipe for serious problems - perhaps to as much as 20+% of the population. Add those with asthma, allergies etc. and the number grows.
Most smokers I know, when apprised of this information, chose not to smoke around anyone who may be affected - but there are still numbers of smokers who do not know these facts, or are even in denial. But it's not a civility to refrain from smoking around those who may be negatively affected; it is more of a right of those people not being subject to the serious health impacts tobacco smoke can have on them. (Sometimes I have head people compare drinking and smoking, but nobody has dared to blow alcohol up my nose...
)
Whether Hiton goes smokefree or not I suspect will depend on market studies, as well as cost savings resulting from everything from decreased maintenance costs to possible risk management in cases where the property has not controlled the environment enough to protect those who are negatively affected by smoke. As well, more sophisticated air conditioniing and heating systems are being designed, and that may help Hilton continue to keep a (what has been a declining) percentage of rooms for smokers.
Why? Because smoke (you knew this, as you learned it in high school or before) has carbon monoxide, an odorless, etc. gas, which haemoglobin has ~210 times greater affinity for than oxygen. (Carboxyhaemoglobin loads n smokers and non-smokers may not return to normal for eight hours.)
This means those with respiratory or circulatory disorders will have lower blood oxygen (oxyhaemoglobin) levels than others, which can cause everything from cardiovascular distress and angina in someone with heart disease to respiratory distress to those with any kind of respiratory impairment. Not to mention what effect it has on pregnant women, infants and children. Add in the vasoconstrictive effect of nicotine in tobacco smoke, you have a recipe for serious problems - perhaps to as much as 20+% of the population. Add those with asthma, allergies etc. and the number grows.
Most smokers I know, when apprised of this information, chose not to smoke around anyone who may be affected - but there are still numbers of smokers who do not know these facts, or are even in denial. But it's not a civility to refrain from smoking around those who may be negatively affected; it is more of a right of those people not being subject to the serious health impacts tobacco smoke can have on them. (Sometimes I have head people compare drinking and smoking, but nobody has dared to blow alcohol up my nose...
)Whether Hiton goes smokefree or not I suspect will depend on market studies, as well as cost savings resulting from everything from decreased maintenance costs to possible risk management in cases where the property has not controlled the environment enough to protect those who are negatively affected by smoke. As well, more sophisticated air conditioniing and heating systems are being designed, and that may help Hilton continue to keep a (what has been a declining) percentage of rooms for smokers.