We are all familiar with the idea of passive smoking. Passive smoking occurs when a non-smoker breathes in the smoker’s exhaled smoke, and the smoke from the burning end of the cigarette. Second hand smoke which lingers in the air, and settles onto surfaces, fabrics and carpets contains more than 7000 toxic chemicals, at least 70 of which can cause cancer!
Third-hand smoke isn’t so well known – although it has been studied for decades. So what is it?
Third-hand smoke is the tobacco smoke residue that lingers on surfaces and fabrics and causes harm. This happens partly because nicotine residue sticking to household surfaces later interacts with nitric acid in the air, which combines to form chemicals known as tobacco-specific nitrosamines or TNSAs. These TNSAs which can cause cancer then get back into the air and are breathed in or carried away. It is said that the creation of TNSAs could also occur with the use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
80% of tobacco smoke in invisible so we cannot normally see how far it has traveled. But one study in a ventilated school classroom where smoking was not allowed found that 29% of the air particles contained contaminants from third-hand smoke. (Dr Anita Avery from Drexel University, Philadelphia.)
Even more startling is the 2011 study by Georg Matt of San Diego State University who found that not only where nicotine levels still elevated in the homes of non-smokers a full two months after the previous smoking tenants had moved out, but that even babies in incubators were found to show the effects of smoking in their urine after a parent had visited – in an environment with a strict no-smoking policy.
Studies by the Californian Consortium on Thirdhand Smoke recently showed that exposure to third-hand smoke can damage DNA, cells and cause metabolic and behavioural changes.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aap8368
Pets such as cats, bird, fish and rodents are particularly at risk, along with large animals like dogs. But toddlers and children are at a much higher risk that adults because of the time they spend on carpets, or close to the ground. This was establish in a study that showed that in 77% of SMOKING households and 64% of non-smoking households the cancer risks to children aged 1-6 years from TNSAs exceeded the upper limit set by the United State Environmental Protection Agency!
There is only one conclusion you can draw from this – smoking damages your health and that of innocent others without you knowing when or where. The only responsible reaction is to stop smoking today.
If you require my help to stop smoking email me:
stoptoday@getsmokefree.co.uk
