Researchers in the US have invented the first tobacco smoke sensor capable of recording second-hand smoke data in real time, according to a story in Medical Xpress quoting the Nicotine and Tobacco Research journal.
The sensor is said to be able to detect, too, ‘third-hand’ smoke, ‘or nicotine off-gassing from clothing, furniture, car seats and other material’.
The researchers, at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, expect soon to convert what is currently a prototype smaller than a cellphone into a wearable, affordable and reusable device.
The prototype is said to have proved successful in laboratory tests, while clinical studies will start in the summer.
‘The device would be more accurate and less expensive than current second-hand smoke sensors, which provide only an average exposure in a limited area over several days or weeks,’ the Medical Xpress story said.