The Dangers of Thirdhand Smoke - Cleveland Clinic Health ...

Thirdhand smoke is residual — or leftover — nicotine and other chemicals that remain on clothing and surfaces after someone smokes in the area. Skiptocontent ClevelandClinic Menu PrimaryMenu AdvertisingPolicy Health&WellnessTips Fitness,healthandwellnesstipssenttoyouweekly Youhavesuccessfullysubscribedtoournewsletter. Youknowthatsmokingandsecondhandsmoke(smokeexhaledfromburningcigarettes)areunhealthy.Butanotherdangerlurksthatmaysurpriseyou:thirdhandsmoke,whichisaresiduethatlingerslongafteryouemptytheashtrays. AdvertisingPolicy ClevelandClinicisanon-profitacademicmedicalcenter.Advertisingonoursitehelpssupportourmission.Wedonotendorsenon-ClevelandClinicproductsorservices. Policy Thirdhandsmokeisresidual—orleftover—nicotineandotherchemicalsthatremainonclothingandsurfacesaftersomeonesmokesinthearea. Dangerousresiduefromtobaccosmokestickstocarpets,wallsandothersurfaces afterthesmokeclears. Researchersbelievetheselingeringchemicalscanharmyourbodyjustlike smokingandsecondhandsmokecan.“Researchcontinues,buttherearethingswealreadyknow,” sayspulmonologistHumbertoChoi,MD. Thirdhandsmokeandcancer Researchersare investigatingthirdhand smokeastheyseektounderstandsomepuzzlinglungcancercases. “There’sbeenanincreasedinterestrecentlybecausewe’reseeingmorelungcancercasesthatarenotrelateddirectlytofirsthandorsecondhandsmoking,”Dr.Choisays.“Sowe’relookingatothercausesfor cancerasidefromdirectexposure.” Thirdhandsmoke maydamageDNA Onestudyfoundthatbeingexposedtothirdhandsmokemay causedamageandbreaksinhumanDNA.Researcherstestedhumancellsinalaboratoryratherthanactualhumans.ButDr.Choisays,“DNAdamageisarealriskandcanincreaseyourchancesof disease.” Smokeresidueandcarcinogens Whenyousmokeinaroomorcar,toxicchemicalslikenicotineclingtowalls,clothing,upholsteryandothersurfaces,aswellasyourskin.Resultsofa study publishedin2010foundthatwhenthisnicotinereactswithnitrousacidintheair,itformscarcinogens,whicharecompoundsthatcancausecancer. AdvertisingPolicy Althoughthissuggestsadangerousconnection,“Ithasn’tbeenproventhatthirdhandsmokeiscorrelatedwithanyotherconditions,”Dr.Choisays.“Andthatwillbeverydifficulttoprovebecauseweareallexposedtoitnomatterhowhardwetrytoavoidit.” “Forthisreason,thespecificrisksofthirdhandsmokearestillnotcompletelyclear,”hesays. Childrenaremostatrisktothirdhandsmoke “Ithinkchildrenarethemostvulnerabletothirdhandsmokebecauseofexposuretosurfaceslikethefloorandontheirclothesandotherobjectsinthehouse,”Dr.Choisays. Thisisparticularlytrueforveryyoungchildrenwhofrequentlytouchobjectsandthenputtheirhandsintheirmouths.Thiscanincreasetheirexposuretotoxicchemicals. Adultswhodon’tsmokebut livewiththosewhodoarealsoatamuchhigherriskforthirdhandsmokeexposure.Dr.Choisays,“Itmaybehelpfultostudytheseindividualsinthelongterm.” Removingthirdhandsmokeresidueisverydifficult Thirdhandsmokeresiduebuildsupovertimeonmostsurfacesittouches.Itcanremainforweeks,monthsorevenyears.“Itresistsnormalcleaningmethodsandyoucan’tairitoutofroomsorcarswithfansorvacuums,”Dr.Choisays. AdvertisingPolicy Forthisreason,sometimestheonlysolutionisreplacingcarpets,repaintingwallsandcleaningventilationsystems.Soit’sexpensivetocompletelyridaroomofthirdhandsmokeandeliminatetheriskofexposuretofuturetenantsorowners. Dr.Choistressesthatthebestsolutionformanagingthedangersofthirdhandsmokeistostopsmoking. “Thebestwaytoreduceexposureriskistohaveasmoke-freeenvironment—especiallywhereyoulive,”hesays.“Andit’snotjustaboutcuttingdown,butbeingabstinent.” Heconcludes,“Ifyousmoke,neversmokeinsideyourhouse,becauseevenifyoudon’tsmellthesmokeanymore,it’sstillthere.Still,thebestapproachistoavoiditcompletely.” AdvertisingPolicy AdvertisingPolicy ClevelandClinicisanon-profitacademicmedicalcenter.Advertisingonoursitehelpssupportourmission.Wedonotendorsenon-ClevelandClinicproductsorservices. Policy AdvertisingPolicy AdvertisingPolicy AdvertisingPolicy AdvertisingPolicy AdvertisingPolicy RelatedArticles March9,2020 /Allergies March9,2020 /Allergies 17SimpleWaystoPreventAirPollutioninYourHome March4,2022 /Digestive March4,2022 /Digestive AreSmokedMeatsBadforYourHealth? 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