Inhaling nicotine and other toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, either firsthand as a smoker or secondhand as a non-smoker, may cause illnesses like heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. But determining the risk from thirdhand smoke is difficult, and data on its effects are still scarce. They hear about the dangers of secondhand smoke. But they don't hear much, if anything, about the dangers of thirdhand smoke.
What's tricky about thirdhand smoke is that you can't really quantify the risk. Thirdhand smoke forms when particles from a cigarette or other tobacco-burning device seep into materials like hair, clothes, furniture, carpet and walls, and are absorbed. Yet, the concept of third hand smoke goes largely unnoticed even though a study in first identified the problem. Environmental health professionals seek to protect people against environmental factors that may adversely impact human health; they are instrumental in enforcing regulations and providing health education to limit third hand smoke exposure and associated disease outcomes.
Learn more about Tobacco and EH Professionals. It took decades to develop the proponderance of evidence and prove that smoking causes lung cancer and a multitude of other adverse health effects. It took additional years to prove second hand smoke also kills. It was only recently that scientists identified third hand smoke from tobacco combustion lingering on clothing, bedding, carpeting and furniture and attributed their contribution to adverse health effects.
A study indicated that third-hand smoke accumulates in smokers' homes and persists even after homes have been vacant for two months and are cleaned and prepared for new residents.
This study also indicates that there is not much that can be done in terms of cleaning third hand smoke in affected places. Recommendations to minimize potential negative health effects are:. Thirdhand smoke chemicals may react with indoor air oxidants to yield potentially harmful byproducts. The California Air Resource Board has classified secondhand smoke as a toxic air contaminant. The mixture of thirdhand smoke chemicals has shown to have the ability to damage DNA and is toxic to cells.
Exposure to thirdhand smoke at realistic levels has been shown to affect multiple organ systems e. Matt, G. Quintana, H. Destaillats, L. Gundel, M. Sleiman, B. Singer, P. Jacob, N. Benowitz, J. Winickoff, V. Rehan, P. Talbot, S. Schick, J. I would say cyanide, which is used in chemical weapons. It actually interferes with the release of oxygen to tissues. It competitively binds to hemoglobin [meaning it competes with oxygen for binding sites on the blood's oxygen-carrying molecule, hemoglobin].
Basically people with cyanide poison turn blue…. We [used to] use it to kill rats. And there it is in cigarette smoke. Why are the risks associated with exposure to third-hand smoke different for children and adults? The developing brain is uniquely susceptible to extremely low levels of toxins.
Remember how we talked about the layers of toxin deposits on surfaces? Who gets exposure to those surfaces? Babies and children are closer to [surfaces such as floors]. They tend to touch or even mouth [put their mouths to] the contaminated surfaces. Imagine a teething infant. Children ingest twice the amount of dust that grown-ups do. Let's say a grown-up weighs pounds [68 kilograms].
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