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Exposure to surfaces and objects that have been saturated in cigarette smoke, labeled as “third-hand smoke,” may be as deadly as smoking the cigarette itself. A new study from the University of California, Riverside finds that the third-hand smoke that has soaked into the surfaces, objects and environment around people becomes increasingly toxic over time. Third-hand smoke is defined as the second-hand smoke that is allowed to settle on objects in any environment. Non-smoking children, co-workers, spouses and friends of smokers breathe in such carcinogens left in rooms exposed to smokers.

Nicotine residues on indoor surfaces can react with ambient gases to generate cancer-causing compounds, researchers in the US have found. The research is hoped to shed new light on the possible danger of 'third-hand smoke' - where toxins from tobacco fumes can linger on household surfaces. 'Certain compounds - such as ambient nitrous acid, nitrogen dioxide or ozone - are present in higher quantities indoors rather than outdoors,' explains Hugo Destaillats, who led the research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, US. This is because they are generated by combustion from indoor gas supplies, fireplaces or the use of electronic equipment. Destaillats...

Smoking bans in places like restaurants, offices and public buildings reduce cases of heart attacks and heart disease, according to a report released Thursday by a federally commissioned panel of scientists. The report, issued by the Institute of Medicine, concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke significantly increased the risk of having a heart attack among both smokers and nonsmokers. The panel also said it found that a reduction in heart problems began to take effect fairly quickly after a smoking ban was instituted and that exposure to low or fleeting levels of secondhand smoke could cause cardiovascular problems. “Even a...

Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air of second-hand smoke, but experts now have identified another smoking-related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke. That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if...

That there will be any more humans left to populate the earth in the years to come ought to be sufficient enough evidence that God not only exists, but that He is tinkering to make it so. The idea of a species being able to survive the hellish construct of its intrusive and destructive existence, like the one homosapiens have built for themselves, is as farcical and ludicrous as the thinking that denies the imminent dangers of man-made global warming.At least that's what one would have to believe after a rudimentary perusal of today's mainstream doomdsay media.Everything is going...