When I heard about the recent study on the health risks of "third-hand" smoke, I admit I was puzzled. I've heard of second-hand smoke, but what exactly is third-hand smoke?
Although we may not have realized that awful smell on a jacket worn by a smoker could signal carcinogens, but instinctively we may have avoided getting near it. Evidently most of us can detect third-hand smoke some of the time because we smell the lasting effects of cigarette smoke even after the smoker has left the area. According to the recent study in the journal Pediatrics, third-hand smoke is the residual contamination from tobacco smoke that lasts long after the cigarette is put out.
Third-hand smoke may be invisible but it really stinks because it's toxic. It lingers on clothes worn by smokers and in rooms, cars or elevators used by smokers. Third-hand smoke is a type of toxic dust from cigarette smoking that settles on fabric, upholstery, carpet and on almost any surface and then it disperses into the air. According to the
NYTimes.com the third-hand smoke "residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens, and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they're crawling or playing on the floor."
According to the
ChicagoTribune.com the journal Pediatric notes: "Children are especially susceptible to thirdhand smoke exposure because they breath near, crawl and play on, touch and mouth contaminated surfaces."
According to the NYTimes.com article, shutting a door to a room in the house temporarily to contain the smoke while someone is smoking will not protect kids or adults from the effects of that smoke because the carcinogens last longer than the smoke itself.
So what really is in third-hand smoke? The
NYTimes.com article says:
"Among the substances in third-hand smoke are hydrogen cyanide, used in chemical weapons: butane, which is used in lighter fluie; toluene, found in paint thinners; arsenic; lead; carbondioxide; and even polonium-210, the highly radioactive carcinogent that was used to murder former Russian spy Alexander V. Litvinenko in 2006."
The bottom line: if parents want to protect their children--the most vulnerable to toxic third-hand smoke--then they need to at the very least ban smoking in their homes and cars.
I'm not a medical expert or a scientist, but I am wondering how third-hand smoke effects pets that spend countless hours lounging on contaminated third-hand smoke carpets.
