When the toxins in the cigarette smoke remain on the fabric, hair, and skin after smoking and continue to emit poison, it is called third-hand tobacco smoke. A US study found that even touching a smoker’s clothes is enough to expose people to dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals.
ENTERED THROUGH THE SKIN
US researchers studied how cancer-causing chemicals stick to clothing. They found that carcinogens can be absorbed by people wearing smokers’ clothes. It has even been found that the chemicals enter the body through the skin of mice.
HAZARDS OF PASSIVE SMOKEING
The dangers of secondhand smoke have been known for decades, but now scientists are warning of a new threat: thirdhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke is the inhalation of inhaled smoke or smoke from the end of a cigarette by someone else.
In one study, three non-smoker volunteers were asked to wear heavy smoker’s clothes for three hours. Tests showed up to 86 times more toxic compounds in their urine after the experiment. In another study, researchers exposed the same carcinogens to human lung tissue and showed that they can cause DNA damage, one of the triggers of cancer.