Third-Hand smoke is also deadly

A new fear: third-hand cigarette smoke - Healthzone.ca

A California research lab has found in a recent that third-hand smoke, or the residue of cigarettes that is left on clothing, paper or walls, is extremely carcinogenic when combined with an indoor pollutant.

“The biggest message is the study reveals that the tobacco smoke residue that remains after smoking, sometimes days or weeks later, could pose a risk to people who occupy that space or use it,” said Lara Gundel, the co-principal investigator in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That risk increases when the residue combines with a common indoor pollutant, nitrous acid, Gundel said. Nitrous acid usually floats inside a building and is generated by unvented gas appliances or diesel engines.

Together the residue and pollutant become potentially even more carcinogenic, forming a tobacco-specific nitrosamine, which is extremely hazardous, the scientist explained. In fact Gundel said when nicotine and nitrous acid combine, Gundel said, they are much more dangerous than just nicotine.

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