- Deadly poisons can also be brought into the home on people’s clothes
- Or picked up from surfaces – even in ‘smoke free’ homes
- ‘Risks of tobacco exposure do not end when a cigarette is extinguished’
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Children whose parents do not smoke are still at risk of cancer from ‘third hand’ tobacco smoke lurking in house dust, a study has claimed.
The deadly poisons can also be brought into the home on people’s clothes or picked up from surfaces even in ‘smoke free’ homes, say the researchers.
Cigarette smoke blowing into the house could also pose a risk – with non-smoking adults being exposed as well as younger family members.
Third-hand danger: Deadly poisons can be brought into the home on clothes or picked up from surfaces – even in ‘smoke free’ homes
Scientists say that until now, the risks of ‘third hand’ contamination have been uncertain.
But a York University study, published in the journal Environment International, has revealed the long-term consequences could be severe, particularly for children aged one to six.
It has also revealed the first time the widespread presence of tobacco related carcinogens in house dust in homes where no one regularly smokes.
Lead investigator, Dr Jacqueline Hamilton, said: ‘The risks of tobacco exposure do not end when a cigarette is extinguished.
‘Non-smokers, especially children, are also at risk through contact with surfaces and dust-contaminated with residual smoke gases and particles – the so-called third hand smoke.
Each year
600,000 people die worldwide through passive inhalation of environmental
tobacco smoke, also known as second hand smoke.
But
as more and more countries have banned smoking in public places, the
home has become the main source of passive smoking exposure.
Her colleague, Professor Alastair Lewis, said: ‘Over 40 per cent of children have at least
one smoking parent and whereas there is a general public awareness about
the harms of second hand smoke, there is little knowledge about the
dangers of third hand smoke.
‘Carcinogenic
materials can be passed from smokers to non-smokers during shared
contact, for example between clothes and surfaces and also enter homes
via airborne transport of cigarette smoke.’
The risks of tobacco exposure do not end when a cigarette is extinguished, the researchers warn
The study involved collecting dust samples from private homes occupied by both smokers and non-smokers.
After studying the composition of the house dust, they estimated the cancer risk by applying the most recent official toxicology information.
They found that for children aged one to six years old, the cancer risks exceeded the limit recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in three quarters of smokers’ homes and two thirds of non-smokers’ homes.
The maximum risk predicted from the third hand smoke levels in a smoker occupied home equated to one extra cancer case per 1,000 of the population exposed.
Measurements were made using a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography system.
The researchers examined exposure to carcinogen N-nitrosamines and tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in the dust samples.
These
are produced when nicotine is deposited on indoor surfaces and then released again into the atmosphere when they react with nitrous acid and
other atmospheric oxidants. They are classified as carcinogenic for
humans.
Professor Rosa Maria Marci, from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, in Spain, which was also involved in the research, said: ‘This highly selective and sensitive instrument has allowed the small amounts of TSNAs stuck to the surface of house dust to be measured for the first time.’
Dr Noelia Ramirez, a postdoctoral research fellow at the university, added: ‘While TSNAs have been suspected to form part of third-hand smoke as a result of laboratory studies, we have demonstrated for the first time the presence of carcinogenic tobacco-specific compounds, such as TSNAs, in settled house dust found in a panel of smokers’ and non-smokers’ homes.
She added that the concentrations found in smoke-free homes suggested the TSNAs formed in smoking environments can persist for extended periods – and are then subsequently be transported into non-smokers’ homes from outside.’
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