William Atkins
Wednesday, 10 February 2010 02:24
Science -
Health
Page 1 of 4
According to February 2010 research, nicotine from tobacco smoke that has settled on common household items and motor vehicle surfaces can increase your risk of cancer. If you smell a smoker’s house or car, then the smoke is still there and it is bad for you! It's third-hand smoke!
The lead U.S. researcher of the study is Dr.
Hugo Destaillats (with the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe; and the Indoor Environment Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California).
Dr. Destaillats and his colleagues’ February 8, 2010 paper “
Formation of carcinogens indoors by surface-mediated reactions of nicotine with nitrous acid, leading to potential thirdhand smoke hazards” was published in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
They researched whether nicotine—which is left over from tobacco smoke and absorbed into indoor surfaces—reacts or not with ambient gases, such as nitrous acid (HONO), to form carcinogenic substances, specifically tobacco-specific nitrosamines (
TSNAs).
TSNAs are some of the most potent carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) found in tobacco smoke.
Nicotine (which is highly
addictive), when released from the smoking of cigarettes, lingers on indoor surfaces for weeks to months—according to previous research.
Nitrous acid has a molecular formula of HNO
2, and is commonly represented as HONO. It is a common indoor air pollutant that is often found inside automobiles driven by cigarette smokers.
Page two continues with comments made by Dr. Destaillats, along with results from the study.
