What is Third-hand smoke and why should we be bothered?

'A Buring Issue'

The menaces of smoking are very much familiar - heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. Smoking affects both on smokers, by way of directly taking in nicotine and chemicals, while non-smokers are exposed to exhaled secondhand smoke and from lighted end of cigarettes and cigars.

But what about the danger of third-hand smoke? What does it mean, and should we be bothered?

The word "third-hand smoke" refers to the silt of smoke left on clothing, carpets, furniture, skin and hair - the unseen tobacco soot that lands in the environment and stays there even after a cigarette has been quashed.

As the chart below describes, after they settle on these surfaces, the chemicals go through an ageing process, which transforms the formation of the smoke pollutants.

Image: World Health Organization (WHO)

Smokers’ environment

The nicotine in third-hand smoke silt reacts with common homely air pollutants, like nitrous acid and ozone and proceed to form toxin or mixture that may cause cancer, says the study report from the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. The chemicals are then frequently re-emitted back into the air in a method known as “off-gassing”.

Attempt to diffuse the smoke, like opening windows or using a fan, don’t avert third-hand smoke from producing or keep it from breathing in. And this silt may discharge harmful chemicals for years or even decades.

Even though a relatively new term, third-hand smoke has been a  topic for researchers for decades. In the early 1950s, a scientist from Washington University School of Medicine(WUSM) in St. Louis demonstrated that precipitation made from the silt of cigarette smoke lead to cancer. An additional study, conducted in 2004, found that nicotine was still existing in homes where smokers had tried to restrict exposure, such as smoking outdoors. Babies and children are at a larger risk of being exposed to third-hand smoke as they inhale or eat the contamination when they cuddle adults, sit on car seats or creep on floors where toxins may have built up over time. Their evolving immune systems and organs make them specifically vulnerable.

Cigarette Dust 

What can be done?

The World Health Organization(WHO) is asking countries to enhance action to keep away people from exposure to tobacco. Restriction on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship can help curtail down tobacco consumption, it says.

Increasing Taxes, cautionary message about the menace of smoking and offering support to people who want to give up are all actions that have helped to cut down the impact of tobacco on the health of people worldwide.