The hazards of tobacco use are making headlines again. Researchers at the prestigious Berkeley Lab presented a new global warning on the risks of third-hand smoke. The study published in the journal Mutagenesis confirms cancer-causing toxic tobacco residues can cause significant genetic damage in human cells.
The results of the study also confirm a harmful cumulative effect of the hazardous residues over time.
Researchers found long-term exposure to third-hand smoke resulted in more DNA damage than short-term.
“Studies show that third-hand smoke clings to hair, skin, clothes, furniture, drapes, walls, bedding, carpets, dust, vehicles and other surfaces, even long after smoking has stopped,” says Lowell Dale.
Third-hand smoke is a relatively new concept and is characterised by the invisible residues left behind once second-hand smoke has disappeared.
Third-hand smoke is thought to be particularly dangerous to infants and young children because they are more likely to inhale, ingest and touch surfaces containing the toxic residue.
“This is the very first study to find that third-hand smoke is mutagenic,” said Lara Gundel, the co-author of the study. “Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, some of the chemical compounds in third-hand smoke, are among the most potent carcinogens there are. They stay on surfaces, and when those surfaces are clothing or carpets, the danger to children is especially serious.”
To complicate the seriousness of the problem, the residue can react with other common indoor air pollutants such as ozone and nitrous acid. These new ultrafine particles have been found to pass directly into human tissues through inhalation, ingestion and skin contact.
“Until this study, the toxicity of third-hand smoke has not been well understood,” says Bo Hang, the lead researcher and biochemist in the Life Sciences Division of Berkeley Lab. “Third-hand smoke has a smaller quantity of chemicals than second-hand smoke, so it is good to have experimental evidence to confirm its genotoxicity.”
Even more alarming, third-hand smoke residue builds up on surfaces over time and it becomes virtually impossible to remove the noxious residue.
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