Are You Exposed to Thirdhand Smoke?

Are You Exposed to Thirdhand Smoke?

You already know about secondhand smoke – the type you inhale if you’re sitting next to or near a smoker. It’s known to cause respiratory infections and respiratory symptoms (couching, sneezing) in children and can increase the risk of heart attack and lung cancer in adults.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory identified the dangers of thirdhand smoke. If you’ve ever been in a smoker’s car or house and it smelled like cigarettes, even though there wasn’t a lit one nearby, you’ve experienced thirdhand smoke. It occurs when the odor (noxious residue) from secondhand smoke is absorbed into furniture, car seats, carpets, and even dust particles. It then reacts to the surroundings and can be transferred from whatever it’s stuck to at a lower volume.

When the particulate matter of thirdhand smoke interacts with nitrous acid (a type of air pollutant), it produces deadly carcinogens and anywhere from 5% to 60% of the predicted health damage from thirdhand smoke is still there up to 18 hours after the cigarette as been put out. According to the TK, During that 18-hour window, tobacco volatile organic compounds such as paint, cleaning supplies, and even office equipment exceeded unsafe levels for the whole period.

A separate study from the Berkeley Lab found thirdhand smoke can linger in the house for months and may even become more toxic over time and that regular cleaning methods such as vacuuming and ventilation were not an effective way to remove it. The only sure way to remove the smoke is to repaint the walls, re-carpet the rooms, and get rid of the furniture. Smoking outside does not solve this dilemma. The researchers found that smoke will still attach to someone’s skin and clothes.

The Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program has formed a consortium in California to conduct more research on thirdhand smoke and its effect on health. One studyshowed the thirdhand smoke that lingers on surfaces could cause lung fibrosis. Children could also be at a higher risk to develop severe neurological disorders and both short-term and long-term health problems. Researchers even found that mice who were never exposed to smoke, but interacted with the residue, showed similar health problems as those who were exposed smoke. Another study revealed thirdhand smoke actually harms our DNA.