[ATLANTA.CBSLOCAL] Exposure to surfaces and objects that have been saturated in cigarette smoke, labeled as "third-hand smoke," is just as deadly as smoking the cigarette itself.Fourth and fifth hand smoke is just as bad. Sixth hand smoke probably is, too. The knowledge that there is smoke will give you cancer. Be warned!
A new study from the University of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, 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.
"We studied, on mice, the effects of third-hand smoke on several organ systems under conditions that simulated third-hand smoke exposure of humans," Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology who led the study, said in a statement to UCR Today. "We found significant damage occurs in the liver and lung. Wounds in these mice took longer to heal. Further, these mice displayed hyperactivity."
The researchers note that smoking tobacco remains a worldwide cause of serious health threats for smokers and nonsmokers alike, affected approximately 1.5 billion people globally.
The study published in the journal PLOS ONE finds that third-hand smoke persists in houses, hotel rooms and other living spaces long after smokers move out. The mice exposed to third-hand smoke in the lab showed variations in multiple organ systems and excreted levels of a tobacco-specific carcinogen similar to children exposed to secondhand smoke. Wounds healed more slowly and the liver was negatively impacted.