Author: Lindsey Konkel / Source: Science News for Students
Even buildings that strictly enforce bans on indoor smoking may never be smoke-free.
A new study shows that “thirdhand smoke” — the type that sticks to surfaces — can end up indoors, even in supposedly smoke-free spaces.So people could end up breathing in harmful chemicals from cigarette smoke, even when they were in a room where no one ever smoked.
Inhaling smoke directly through a cigarette can lead to cancer and many other health problems. The cigarette smoke that people nearby inhale is known as secondhand smoke. It, too, can harm the lungs. Thirdhand smoke is what’s left behind after someone has finished smoking. It’s a mix of nicotine and other chemicals that can create that stale, smoky smell after any visible smoke clears. It sticks to clothing, furniture and walls, where it can linger for hours or days.
Thirdhand smoke is not benign. It, too, can react with other molecules in the air to form cancer-causing substances.
Peter DeCarlo was surprised to find thirdhand smoke in a classroom at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa. DeCarlo is an atmospheric scientist at Drexel. He was setting up an experiment to study the effects of heating and air conditioning on particles in the air. As far as anyone knew, no one had ever smoked in this room being tested. It certain didn’t smell smoky.
DeCarlo wasn’t looking for thirdhand smoke. But once he found its chemical “fingerprint,” he did some detective work to investigate how it got there.
Harmful hitchhikers
Air is a mixture of gases, including nitrogen and oxygen. Microscopic particles of things like pollen, water vapor, soot and pesticides can float in the air. These are called aerosols. DeCarlo’s research team sucked up a small amount of air from the classroom.
Then they used a machine to identify the…
The post ‘Thirdhand’ smoke can hitchhike to non-smoking sites appeared first on FeedBox.