Jump to full article: The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday (uk), 2010-02-09
Author: Daily Mail Reporter
Intro: The health risks of both puffing on a cigarette and second-hand smoke are well known. But a new study has found even 'third-hand' smoke is hazardous.
Researchers discovered tobacco smoke residues found on everyday surfaces react with molecules in indoor air to form potent cancer-causing chemicals.
Crawling toddlers can be exposed to a toxic brew of gases and particles that cling to a smoker's clothes, hair, cars and furniture long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room.
Babies and toddlers are more at risk from 'third-hand' smoke because they breathe more quickly and brush on more surfaces
Environmental chemist Dr Hugo Destaillats and colleagues showed a dangerous reaction between nicotine and a pollutant known as HONO (nitrous acid) which is common in all buildings.
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