Researcher Professor Alastair Lewis adds, “Carcinogenic materials can be passed from smokers to non-smokers during shared contact, for example between clothes and surfaces and also enter homes via airborne transport of cigarette smoke.”
As smoking restrictions in public spaces have become more common, the home has become the primary space for passive smoke inhalation, also known as second hand smoke. A reported 600,000 deaths occur each year worldwide from second hand smoke.
The study is the first to reveal the presence of tobacco-related carcinogens in dust found in homes of non-smokers.
Dust samples were collected from the homes of smokers and non-smokers and studied for potential cancer risk by applying official toxicology information. Scientists found that the cancers risks for children aged one to six exceeded the limit recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in two thirds of the non-smokers’ homes.
How To Protect Your Home From Third Hand Smoke
- Make your home TRULY smoke free. Don’t even limit your smoking to one special room, as it won’t be contained there.
- Do not smoke in the car. Third hand smoke can settle into the car seats.
- Remove carpeting from the home.
- Re-paint your walls if you or the previous homeowner was a smoker.
- Toss that old couch if you previously smoked.
Third Hand Smoke: The New Cancer Risk For Children was originally published on blackdoctor.org
