Third-hand smoke as a potential intervention message for promoting smoke-free homes in low-income communities

Abstract

Third-hand smoke (THS) is the residual tobacco smoke contaminant that remains after a cigarette is extinguished. It can react with the indoor air pollutant nitrous acid to produce a carcinogen. Understanding perceptions of THS is critical, as it may inform the development of messages for promoting smoke-free homes. Six focus groups, of smokers and non-smokers, with 39 participants were conducted. Participants were asked whether they knew about THS and its harmful effects and whether it would motivate people to make their homes smoke free. They also answered questions about THS beliefs. Participants were mostly African-American, female and high-school graduate or General Educational Development (GED) recipients. Most of the participants had not heard about it and did not know what THS was. When asked about the dangers of THS, some participants made references to children indicating that they can easily inhale or ingest the residue leading to harmful effects. Almost all of the participants stated that they thought being educated about THS would motivate people to make their homes smoke free. There is a need for more scientific understanding of the potential dangers of THS and subsequent education about its exposure and harm to children and possibly adults.

The Electronic Cigarette: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“…5 Another form of toxin exposure, termed thirdhand smoke, results from the particulate matter (PM) depositing on surfaces and can linger for months. 7 Pellegrino et al found that the PM emissions from EC aerosol were 15 times lower than emissions found in combustible cigarette smoke, though the levels still exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines. 8 These findings should be interpreted with caution as the actual levels of toxicants in this study may be higher than what was measured due to variations in puff topography among naïve and experienced users and variability between various EC devices and liquids.…”

Development of a scale assessing Beliefs About ThirdHand Smoke (BATHS)

“…Two studies have found no to limited awareness about THS compared to SHS [16, 17], while one of them showed that beliefs about THS’ harm on children was independently associated with home smoking bans [17]. Recently, education about THS has been incorporated into interventions to promote home smoking bans [18, 19].…”

Thirdhand smoke: when the danger is more than you can see or smell

“…A single cigarette smoked on one day in a given environment can expose many people to the smoke's toxic compounds for days and even months 38 . Exposure to THS has been proven by several studies in recent years.…”

“…Rental cars 38 Private cars 39 Non-smoking Smoking Non-moking Note: data presented as medians (25th percentile -75th percentile). For smoking cars, the older the car and the greater the mileage, the higher the nicotine concentration in the dust and on surfaces.…”

“…Another study in private pediatric offices in various counties in the United States from 2009 to 2011 found that 91% of parents who smoked believed that THS could harm their children 80 . In low-income communities in Georgia (USA), more individuals were worried about THS harming their children than involuntary smoking causing heart diseases 38 . Hispanics living in residential buildings in California were unfamiliar with the term THS, while admitting that although they banned smoking in their own homes, they were unable to effectively avoid exposure to cigarette smoke coming from their neighbors 81 .…”