Another reason to quit smoking

Adults who recognize dangers of third-hand smoke more likely to ban smoking at home.

Need another reason to add "Quit Smoking"?  

How about the fact that even if you choose to smoke outside of your home or only smoke in your home when your children are not there thinking that you're keeping them away from second-hand smoke you're still exposing them to toxins?

In the January issue of Pediatrics, researchers at Mass General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and colleagues across the country describe how tobacco smoke contamination lingers even after a cigarette is extinguished  a phenomenon they define as "third-hand" smoke. Their study is the first to examine adult attitudes about the health risks to children of third-hand smoke and how those beliefs may relate to rules about smoking in their homes.

"When you smoke anyplace toxic particulate matter from tobacco smoke gets into your hair and clothing," says lead study author, Jonathan Winickoff, MD, MPH, assistant director of the MGHfC Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy.

Small children are especially susceptible to third-hand smoke exposure because they can inhale near, crawl and play on, or touch and mouth contaminated surfaces.

Third-hand smoke can remain indoors even long after the smoking has stopped. Similar to low-level lead exposure, low levels of tobacco particulates have been associated with cognitive deficits among children, and the higher the exposure level, the lower the reading score.

How exactly do you distinguish between second- and third- hand smoke?

Third-hand smoke refers to the tobacco toxins that build up over time—one cigarette will coat the surface of a certain room [a second cigarette will add another coat, and so on].

The third-hand smoke is the stuff that remains [after visible or "second-hand smoke" has dissipated from the air]…. You can't really quantify it, because it depends on the space.

In a tiny space like a car the deposition is really heavy. Smokers [may] smoke in another room or turn on a fan. They don't see the smoke going into a child's nose; they think that if they cannot see it, it's not affecting [their children].

Source: 

Coco Ballantyne,  Scientific American