Chemicals from cigarettes could get everywhere
Residues of cigarette smoke deposited on indoor surfaces can turn carcinogenic when they react with airborne chemicals. This 鈥渢hird-hand鈥� exposure could in theory cause health problems, particularly in children, says , a specialist in indoor pollution at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
His team found several chemicals on the inside of the cab of a half-pack-a-day smoker鈥檚 truck, including a carcinogen called a . Destaillats鈥檚 team reckon that NNK is produced when nicotine from tobacco smoke reacts with nitrous acid in the air.
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To test the theory, the team deposited either nicotine or tobacco smoke on sheets of paper, and exposed them to nitrous acid. In both cases this produced the same chemicals found in the smoker鈥檚 cab.
鈥淣icotine can persist on indoor surfaces for days, weeks and even months,鈥� says Destaillats. Young children who spend a lot of time on the floor could absorb these compounds through their skin, and the researchers argue that this means people should not smoke in homes and cars, and should replace nicotine-laden furniture and carpets.
at the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota thinks that this could be an overreaction. There is as yet no direct evidence that chemicals formed in this way have proved harmful. 鈥淚 personally feel that exposure by this route would be minimal, but the studies need to be carried out,鈥� Hecht says.
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