A new health hazard from tobacco: ‘Third-Hand Smoke’

Published on May 17, 2010 6:03 AM

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Parents who smoke often believe that using an odor neutralizer, switching on a fan or simply closing the door to prevent the tobacco smoke from entering other rooms is sufficient to protect their children from the dangers of passive smoking. But the scientists have recently made a discovery that is likely to change public attitude to smoking. They discovered that particles of tobacco smoke found on any surfaces can be even more hazardous than second-hand smoke.

The discovery was named third-hand smoke, which refers to the residue sticking to every surface around a smoker. It can be found on furniture, clothes, car, carpeting and other surfaces, and it remains on these surfaces even when the smell of tobacco smoke disappears. Third-hand smoke includes carcinogens, highly poisonous heavy metals and other toxic substances which can reach infants when they are playing on the floor or by other means.

The notion “third-hand smoke” was introduced by the scientists from General Hospital for Children in Boston. The term as well as the chemicals it includes and the hazards third-hand smoke poses to health is described in the research published in the Pediatrics Journal.

Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, who led the research, stated that people have been aware of the hazards of second-hand smoke, but almost nobody was aware that third-hand smoke could be even more harmful.

Dr. Winickoff also said that many smoking parents are generally smoke while their children are away, they also smoke in cars, assuming that opening windows would eliminate tobacco smoke. Therefore, the scientists were willing to coin a term to describe the residue from tobacco smoking, which is invisible, but highly hazardous.

The scientist added that third-hand smoke is settled in many surfaces, for example, on outwear of a smoker, on the furniture and carpeting, and other places. People usually identify third-hand smoke as the nasty smell of tobacco.

The study, authored by Dr. Winickoff was based on the poll of 1.500 households throughout the country. According to the survey, the majority of people knew that passive smoke is hazardous to their kids. More than 90 percent of non-smokers and nearly 84 percent of smoking households answered positively that “smoking in presence of children could expose them to the dangers of passive smoking”.

But far fewer people knew about the dangers related to the third-hand smoke. As the term “third-hand smoke” has been coined recently, the respondents were asked whether they agree that “breathing the air in a place where someone smoked earlier could lead to health complication in kids”. Only 40 percent of smokers and 60 percent of non-smokers agreed with the latter statement.

Thus, the scientists are worried that people believe that ventilating the air after smoking could remove tobacco smoke, which is not true.

Dr. Winickoff admitted the scientists would launch several public health campaigns together with anti-smoking groups, to raise the public awareness on the health risks related to third-hand smoke.