Hotels that have a mixture of smoking and non-smoking rooms don't adequately protect people from the dangers of tobacco. That's the conclusion of a new San Diego State University study published in the journal Tobacco Control.
Researchers took air quality readings and tested surfaces for evidence of tobacco smoke in a random sample of San Diego hotel rooms. Ten hotels had complete smoking bans while 30 others had some dedicated non-smoking rooms.
Compared with hotels that prohibit smoking, hotels with only partial bans had higher surface and air nicotine levels. That was true even in the non-smoking rooms in hotels with a partial ban.
Only five states — Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin — require all motel and hotel rooms to be smoke free. Four cities in California, including Santa Monica, have such a law.
Researchers say guests who want to avoid tobacco exposure should stay only in smoke-free hotels.
