A New Nicotine Danger That Can Harm Your Family

by Dan

The nicotine in “third-hand smoke,” the residue from tobacco smoke that clings to virtually all surfaces long after a cigarette has been extinguished, reacts with the common indoor air pollutant nitrous acid to produce dangerous carcinogens. This new potential health hazard was revealed in a multi-institutional study led by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The burning of tobacco releases nicotine in the form of a vapor that adsorbs strongly onto indoor surfaces, such as walls, floors, carpeting, drapes, and furniture. Nicotine can persist on those materials for days, weeks, and even months.

When this residual nicotine reacts with ambient nitrous acid it forms carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). “Time-course measurements revealed fast TSNA formation, up to 0.4 percent conversion of nicotine within the first hour,” says lead author Sleiman. “Given the rapid sorption and persistence of high levels of nicotine on indoor surfaces, including clothing and human skin, our findings indicate that third-hand smoke represents an unappreciated health hazard through dermal exposure, dust inhalation, and ingestion.”

Since the most likely human exposure to these TSNAs is through either inhalation of dust or the contact of skin with carpet or clothes, third-hand smoke would seem to pose the greatest hazard to infants and toddlers.

The study’s findings indicate that opening a window or deploying a fan to ventilate the room while a cigarette burns does not eliminate the hazard of third-hand smoke.

Smoking outdoors is not much of an improvement. Smoking outside is better than smoking indoors but nicotine residues will stick to a smoker’s skin and clothing. Those residues follow a smoker back inside and get spread everywhere.

Co-author James Pankow points out that the results of this study should raise concerns about the purported safety of electronic cigarettes. Also known as “e-cigarettes,” electronic cigarettes claim to provide the “smoking experience,” but without the risks of cancer. A battery-powered vaporizer inside the tube of a plastic cigarette turns a solution of nicotine into a smoky mist that can be inhaled and exhaled like tobacco smoke. Since no flame is required to ignite the e-cigarette and there is no tobacco or combustion, e-cigarettes are not restricted by anti-smoking laws.

For more information on the University of California’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), visit the website at http://www.trdrp.org.

For more information about Berkeley Lab’s Indoor Environment Department and its researchers visit the website at http://eetd.lbl.gov/r-indoor.html.

Tags: Berkeley Lab, e-cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, nicotine, third-hand smoke, TSNA