Third-hand smoke can convey hazardous chemicals in more ways: Study

Not just the ones who are smoking, or the time of smoking that can cause problems. People can carry hazardous compounds from cigarette smoke that cling to their bodies and clothes, the compounds of which are later released into non-smoking environments, exposing others to adverse effects, a new study suggests.

Generally, third-hand smoke has been described as the residual contamination from cigarette smoking that adheres to walls and other surfaces in places where smoking has previously occurred.

Studied by the researchers at Yale's Drew Gentner, the team suggests that even if someone is in a room where no one has smoked, that person could still be exposed to many of the hazardous chemical compounds that make up cigarette smoke, depending on who else had entered the room or previously visited it.

The results of the study were published in Science Advances.

"People are substantial carriers of third-hand smoke contaminants to other environments. So, the idea that someone is protected from the potential health effects of cigarette smoke because they're not directly exposed to second-hand smoke is not the case," said Gentner, associate professor of chemical & environmental engineering.

To cover the study, the researchers brought highly sensitive analytical instrumentation into a movie theatre to track thousands of compounds, present as either gases or particles, over the course of a week.

A diverse range of volatile organic compounds found in tobacco smoke spiked dramatically when certain audiences arrived for the movies.

"Despite regulations preventing people from smoking indoors, near entryways, and near air intakes, hazardous chemicals from cigarette smoke are still making their way indoors," said Roger Sheu, a PhD student in Gentner's lab and lead author of the study.

The hazardous chemical emissions and air concentrations peaked upon audience arrival and decreased over time, but not completely, even when the audiences left.

In many cases, the movie-goers left persistent contamination observable the following days in the unoccupied theatre.

The main cause of this suggested by the researches is that these chemicals entirely don't remain in the air, but absorbed onto various surfaces and furnishings.