Third Hand Smoke: An Unseen Danger, It doesn't disappear when the smoke clears

Third hand smoke (THS) is the toxic chemical residue left behind in the dust, rug, carpets fabrics, children's toys, stuffed animals and clothes, well after smoking has ceased. Second hand smoke (SHS), both mainstream and side-stream, is easy to detect as the smell and visible smoke shows itself clearly. But third hand smoke persists for many months afterwards, where someone has smoked. Someone who smokes is a bit like Peanut's Pig Pen, but rather than spreading visible dirt, spreads invisible nicotine and other carcinogens.

Persistence of THS

Nicotine (an neurotoxin) persists on surfaces where it interacts with nitrous oxide in the air to form carcinogenic tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNs). Nicotine and TSNs are easily absorbed through the skin unlike alcohol or THC. Whereas SHS smoke persists for 2 to 3 hours, THS persists for months as shown in the mean nicotine dust concentration in homes of smokers who had quit and the mean finger nicotine concentrations found in nonsmoking persons who lived in that environment.

Extra Danger to Children

Infants and children are more at risk with THS as their dust ingestion rate is twice that of the adult (they crawl around the house and are closer to the ground). They also have a 3 to 8X higher respiration rate and their low body weight causes a higher nicotine concentration than in adults.

Ineffectiveness of Non-Smoking Rooms

Amazingly most countries do not ban smoking in their hotels in all rooms but persist in embracing the myth that non smoking rooms will not be contaminated by smoking rooms, no matter what the ventilation system.

In one study of hotels that have smoking rooms, nonsmokers who stayed in nonsmoking rooms had finger wipes nicotine concentrations 5X higher than in nonsmokers who stayed in a completely nonsmoking hotel. Having smoking rooms also expose the staff of the hotel to THS as they must enter smoking rooms every day and then spread THS inadvertently to other rooms.

Some major hotel chains like Westin and Disney have voluntarily banned smoking in their hotels but it is not mandatory in all hotels.

Conclusions

Third hand smoke is a persistent, unseen danger and risk to health especially to infants and children and expose nonsmokers to the toxic effects of cigarette smoke chemicals without them being aware of it. Smoking should be banned in all hotels and places where the public have assess such as AirBnB.

References

Matt, G.E., Quintana, J.E., Fortmann, A.L., et al., "Thirdhand Smoke and Exposure in California Hotels: Non-Smoking Rooms Fail to Protect Non-Smoking Hotel Guests form Tobacco Smoke Exposure", Tobacco Control, 23: 264-272, 2014

Matt, G.E., Quintana, J.E., Zakarian, et al., "When Smokers Quit: Exposure to Nicotine and Carcinogens Persists from Thirdhand Smoke Pollution." Tobacco Control, 26: 548-556, 2016

Sleiman, M., Gundel, L.A., Pankow, J.F., Jacob III, P., Singer, B.C., and Destaillats, H., "Formation of Carcinogens Indoors by Surface-Mediated Reactions of Nicotine with Nitrous Acid, Leading to Potential Thirdhand Smoke Hazards.", PNAS, 107: 6576-6581, 2010

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