Can an air purifier help protect against hearing loss? Maybe. A study published this summer reported that exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke nearly doubles the risk of hearing loss among adolescents. The New York University School of Medicine study linked teen hearing loss associated with the inner ear to home exposure to secondhand smoke. In these cases a high-performance air purifier with gas and smoke control might have made a difference.

Nearly everyone agrees that the best indoor air quality solution for a home where somebody smokes is to eliminate the source of the smoke. That would mean getting the smoker to seek help and support for quitting. Next best – Make the smoker move the habit outside and declare the home smoke-free. Then, or meanwhile, buy a high-quality air purifier like the IQAir GC MultiGas system with activated carbon and alumina pellet filtration and put it to work. Everyone in the home – and the neighbors too – will benefit.

In fact, one leading university recently reported that an air purifier can be as effective as drugs in reducing asthma attacks among children in homes where one or more parents smoke. The study was conducted by The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and reported in the August 2011 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. These results were achieved with low-quality air cleaners. And the kids in the homes with the air cleaners still had lots of nicotine related chemicals in their blood. But on average these same kids suffered 33 fewer days per year enduring severe asthma symptom.

Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable disease and death worldwide, according to the American Lung Association. Nearly one in five high school adolescents smoke. The new study linking secondhand smoke to adolescent hearing loss is just the latest in a list of smoke-born maladies that should shame every smoker around children to stop. Meanwhile, an air purifier might help everyone around to breathe – and hear – a little better.