As if first and secondhand smoke isn’t bad enough, a study led by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found for the first time that thirdhand smoke, the surface clinging residue that is left over from secondhand smoke, can also cause significant damage to our DNA. Yep, I’m talking about that yucky stuff that clings to pretty much every surface long after the secondhand smoke from a cigarette has cleared out.
The study was published in the journal Mutagenesis and shows that not only can thirdhand smoke harm cells, but also that the residue and the harm it can cause, could become worse with time.
In the study, the researchers generated samples by putting paper strips in smoking chambers. The acute samples, generated at Berkeley Lab, were exposed to five cigarettes smoked in about 20 minutes, and the chronic samples, generated at UC San Francisco, were exposed to cigarette smoke for 258 hours over 196 days. During that time, the chamber was also ventilated for about 35 hours.
The researchers found that the concentrations of more than half of the compounds studied were higher in the chronic samples than in the acute. They also found higher levels of DNA damage caused by the chronic samples.
Researchers wrote in this study that genotoxicity is associated with the development of diseases and is a critical mechanism responsible for many types of cancer caused by smoking and secondhand smoke exposure. It is also thought that children are likely at greater risk. The carcinogens in dust tend to settle to the floor where children are sitting and playing, and they are also more likely to put their fingers to their mouths after touching surfaces contaminated by third hand smoke. The study didn’t mention the effects of third hand smoke on pets, but because pets spend their entire lives on the floor, it is likely that they undoubtedly share much of the same risks as children, if not more.
“This is the very first study to find that thirdhand smoke is mutagenic,” study researcher Lara Gundel, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said in a statement. “Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, some of the chemical compounds in thirdhand smoke, are among the most potent carcinogens there are. Third hand smoke stays on surfaces, and when those surfaces are clothing or carpets, the danger to children is especially serious.”
Read more about the study and the potential dangers of thirdhand smoke at Berkeley Lab Confirms Thirdhand Smoke Causes DNA Damage.
