Posted on 08/07/2006 9:30:09 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
As any parent knows, crawling babies explore the world by touching - and tasting - anything they can get their wet little hands on.
If their parents use tobacco, that curiosity may expose babies to what some doctors are calling "thirdhand" smoke - particles and gases given off by cigarettes that cling to walls, clothes and even hair and skin. Up to 90% of the nicotine in cigarette smoke sticks to nearby surfaces, says Georg Matt, a professor at San Diego State University.
Preliminary research by Matt and others suggests the same chemicals that leave a stale cigarette odor on clothes and upholstery also can be swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin of non-smokers. Smoke residue may linger for hours, days or months, depending on the ventilation and the level of contamination. In some cases, contaminants may need to be removed by rigorously cleaning or replacing wallpaper, rugs and drapes, Matt says.
Matt cautions that his research needs to be confirmed by other studies. But his work suggests that babies may take in nicotine and other chemicals just by hugging their mothers - even if their mothers never light up next to them.
About 43% of children ages 2 months to 11 years live with a smoker, according to research described in Matt's 2004 study in the journal Tobacco Control.
In his small study of 49 infants under 13 months old, Matt found nicotine in the air and dust throughout smokers' homes, even when parents smoked only outside. Tests also found a nicotine byproduct, cotinine, in babies' urine and inside shafts of their hair.
As expected, babies whose parents smoked around them had the highest cotinine levels - nearly 50 times higher than the babies of non-smokers, according to the study.
Smokers who tried to shield their infants had only partial success, Matt says. The babies of parents who smoked only outside had cotinine levels seven times higher than in the infants of non-smokers, the study showed.
Adults also may be exposed to significant smoke residue if they rent cars, hotel rooms or apartments that have soaked up years of smoke, Matt says. He worries more about youngsters, however, because they may be exposed day and night for years.
Children also may be at greater risk because they breathe faster than adults and inhale more chemicals, says Jonathan Winickoff, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Crawling babies may take in chemicals through their skin.
Though scientists have extensive evidence about the damage caused by secondhand smoke, they know relatively little about the potential risks of thirdhand exposure, says Brett Singer, a scientist at California's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. "The million-dollar question is: How dangerous is this?" Singer says. "We can't say for sure this is a health hazard."
Matt agrees that doctors should study children - ideally for 10 or 15 years or more - to see whether low levels of smoke residue worsen asthma or harm the development of a child's lungs.
third hand smoke alert
Thanks for the handy housecleaning tip!
The Paranoia Police march on!
No kidding!
I grew up in a family that had me smoking 2 packs a day by the time I was 6
.....because Global warming now makes the nicotine that much harmful.......lol.....
ROTFLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ROTFLOL
Funny.
I thought that it was Global Cooling, that made the it worse. LOL
I've been checking out things lately on Craigslist and selling/giving away a few items. The big thing you see on Craig's and E-bay is "it comes from my smoke free home". I bought a ceramic piece on E-bay and the person posted the "smoke free home" business about the pottery. Like I care about a piece of pottery coming from a smoke free house but I guess some loon out there is worried about it.
Also on Craig's someone was selling some baby rice cereal that they had bought too much of. It was still in the box and had the plastic around it. They stated it came from their "smoke free home". It was still packaged for goodness sake. What was it going to do--sneak under the plastic and through the cardboard? It's crazy.
My mother smoked ALOT when she was pregnant and our whole lives...my brother ended up dying of lung cancer...Who knows?
Third hand smoke alert.
ping
My Dad was a smoker and he never made it past 92
the little buggers absorb it?
I guess I won't need that Sharper Image Air Purifier now.
Well, the cancer rate is up to about 50% these days.
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