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Observations: Third-hand smoke contains carcinogens too, study says 

Anyone walking into a smoker's abode can tell you that the traces of tobacco use don't vanish when a cigarette or cigar is extinguished. But just what happens to this "third-hand" smoke once the air has cleared--and can it still be harmful?

A team of researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that remnants of a smoke don't just inertly settle onto surfaces, they can react with a common gas (nitrous acid, which is emitted from gas appliances and vehicles, among other sources) to create carcinogenic compounds known as tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). The group reported the findings in a study published online February 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

These "TSNAs are among the most broadly acting and potent carcinogens present in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke," Hugo Destaillats, a chemist at the lab's Indoor Environment Department and coauthor of the paper, said in a prepared statement.

Second-hand smoke itself contains TSNAs, but the presence of nitrous acid in an environment can increase their numbers in the hours after smoking has ceased.

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