Tag: thirdhand smoke

  • Warning Against Thirdhand Smoke

    Warning Against Thirdhand Smoke

    Ashley Merianos
    (Image: Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand)

    Smoking residues present a health risk long after the cigarette has been extinguished, according to new research published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

    As part of a study on thirdhand smoke, which is the presence of toxic tobacco byproducts that remain on surfaces such as furniture, decor, walls and floors, scientists tested the surfaces in smoking households where children reside.

    According to lead author Ashley Merianos, they found nicotine on surfaces in all of the children’s homes and detected the presence of a tobacco-specific carcinogen (NNK) in nearly half of the homes, she says. 

    The study reported that the NNK levels on surfaces and in vacuumed dust were similar, which Merianos says indicates that surfaces and dust can be similar reservoirs and sources of thirdhand smoke exposure for children.

    “This is critically important and concerning since NNK is considered the most potent carcinogen for tobacco-induced cancers,” said Merianos, an associate professor in UC’s School of Human Services, in a statement.

    Additional findings include:

    • Children living in lower income households had higher levels of NNK and nicotine found on home surfaces.
    • Children living in homes that did not ban indoor smoking had higher levels of NNK and nicotine found on surfaces.

    Merianos says that NNK and nicotine were still detected in homes with voluntary indoor smoking bans, which highlights the persistence of thirdhand smoke pollutants on surfaces in children’s homes.

    “This research highlights that home smoking bans do not fully protect children and their families from the dangers of tobacco,” she adds.

  • Study: Smoking Outside Still Harms Kids

    Study: Smoking Outside Still Harms Kids

    Image: Larysa | Adobe Stock

    A new study out of Israel shows that even when adults smoke outside, six out of 10 kids are at risk from tobacco smoke harm, according to The Jerusalem Post.

    Researchers from Tel Aviv University tested for the presence of nicotine in the hair of children whose parents smoke. Data analysis showed that among smoking families who restricted smoking to porches or outdoors, 62 percent of children were exposed to tobacco smoke.

    The first stage of the study, published two years ago, showed that 70 percent of children in smoking families, regardless of smoking location, had measurable hair nicotine content, but now the researchers have examined the data by location.

    “Smoking should be avoided within a range of at least 10 meters from the house—and in open areas, smoking should be kept to a distance of at least 10 meters away from children,” the researchers wrote in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

    “The Israeli situation is of great concern because in many cases, porches in Israel are directly adjacent to the living areas and may even be partially open some of the time; the proximity allows smoke to drift from those areas to the interior of the house,” said Leah (Laura) Rosen, head researcher and professor at the School of Public Health in Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. “The parents mistakenly believe that the porch offers a ‘safe’ place to smoke. In fact, the children are likely to be directly exposed when they come out to the porch and someone is smoking or when smoke drifts into the house.

    “Once in the home, the smoke is absorbed into the environment, for example, into the furniture or walls or rugs, and is then gradually discharged into the air over weeks or months. Further, this residual smoke, known as thirdhand smoke, can be absorbed into the body from the environment via swallowing or through the skin, especially among infants and small children. In addition, smoking parents transmit the toxins from the tobacco smoke on their skin, on their hands, in their hair and on their clothing, so it is recommended to brush teeth, wash hands and change clothes after smoking before making contact with children.”

    “The results of this study show that among smoking families, restricting smoking to the porch does not protect most children from exposure to tobacco smoke,” Rosen said. “Therefore, the health ministry’s approach, which opposes protection for individuals from smoke incursion into their own homes in order to protect the smokers’ children, does not protect the children of smokers, and in addition, it can cause substantial harm to neighbors and the children of neighbors.

    “We ask the health ministry to reconsider its stand in light of these findings. Israel must make the reduction of parental smoking a national goal and invest the appropriate resources in this issue. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions regarding when and how the exposure occurs. Eighty-five percent of tobacco smoke is invisible, and our sense of smell is not reliable, so many parents mistakenly believe that they are protecting their children while in fact they are exposing them to substantial health risks. As a society, we must safeguard citizens and distance everyone from the risks of tobacco smoke exposure, especially infants and children, pregnant women and all vulnerable populations.”

  • Thirdhand Smoke Linked to Skin Diseases

    Thirdhand Smoke Linked to Skin Diseases

    Photo: Celeste Lum

    Thirdhand smoke (THS) can trigger skin diseases, according to new research.

    THS comprises the residual pollutants from tobacco smoke that remain on surfaces and in dust after tobacco has been smoked. It can remain on indoor surfaces indefinitely.

    A team led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside has found that acute exposure of the skin to THS elevates biomarkers associated with the initiation of skin diseases, such as contact dermatitis and psoriasis.

    “We found exposure of human skin to THS initiates mechanisms of inflammatory skin disease and elevates urinary biomarkers of oxidative harm, which could lead to other diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and atherosclerosis,” said Shane Sakamaki-Ching, a specialist in cell, molecular and developmental biology, in a statement. “Alarmingly, acute dermal exposure to THS mimics the harmful effects of cigarette smoking.”

    Published in eBioMedicine, the study is the first to be performed on humans exposed dermally to THS.

    The clinical investigation, which took place at the University of California San Francisco, involved the participation of 10 healthy nonsmokers who were 22 years old to 45 years old. For three hours, each participant wore clothing impregnated with THS and either walked or ran on a treadmill for at least 15 minutes each hour to induce perspiration and increase uptake of THS through the skin. The participants did not know the clothing had THS. Blood and urine samples were then collected from the participants at regular intervals to identify protein changes and markers of oxidative stress induced by the THS. Control exposure participants wore clean clothing.

    “We found acute THS exposure caused elevation of urinary biomarkers of oxidative damage to DNA, lipids and proteins, and these biomarkers remained high after the exposure stopped,” said Sakamaki-Ching, now a research scientist at Kite Pharma in California, where he leads a stem cell team. “Cigarette smokers show the same elevation in these biomarkers. Our findings can help physicians in diagnosing patients exposed to THS and help develop regulatory policies dealing with remediation of indoor environments contaminated with THS.”

    The study was supported by grants to Talbot and Schick from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of California.

  • Study Warns of ‘Thirdhand’ Smoke

    Study Warns of ‘Thirdhand’ Smoke

    Photo: stokkete

    A new U.S. study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, warns against the risk of “thirdhand” smoke, which forms when particles from a cigarette seep into materials like hair, clothes and furniture.

    Researchers at the Berkeley Lab in California carried out a series of experiments on humans and mice.

    In one study, three volunteers who did not smoke were asked to wear the clothes of a heavy cigarette user for three hours.

    Tests showed they had up to 86 times higher levels of the toxic compounds NNK and NNN in their urine after the experiment.

    In another study, researchers exposed the same carcinogens to human lung tissue and showed they can cause DNA damage, which is one of the triggers of cancer.

    “These findings illustrate the potential health impacts of thirdhand smoke, which contains not only TSNAs but hundreds of other chemicals, some of which are also known carcinogens,” said author Neal Benowitz, a medic at the University of California, San Francisco.

    “Next steps for this research will explore in more detail the mechanisms of adverse health effects associated with tobacco and cannabis residues, effective remediation strategies and translation of scientific findings to tobacco control practice.”