Thirdhand smoke is contamination or you can say it is a combination in which nicotine, as well as other smokes, are found. These are the smokes that remain after extinguishing the cigarette, cigar, or any other combustible products. Mainly thirdhand smoke comes or can be found in the air which a smoker exhales while smoking. Those air are huge in chemicals so if it is absorbed by the skin or inhaled by anyone it can cause different kinds of skin disease as well as health problems.
Can Thirdhand Smoke Affect Children’s Health?
One of the problems or you can say one of the things that it can affect in the body is DNA. According to a study it has been found that if you are being exposed to thirdhand smoke or inhale the thirdhand smoke it can break in your DNA. Instead of taking humans to the laboratory for experiments, researchers took the cells of those who have been exposed to thirdhand smoke to the laboratory and it has been said that DNA damage can cause a lot of risk to the body and also can increase the chances of disease.
According to research, it has been found that children are mostly exposed to thirdhand smoke, and they or their health care is in huge danger due to this. As we all know about thirdhand smoke, how much damage it can cause to the health and the body of any human. Thirdhand smoke is the smoke that can be found on the carpet, walls, furniture, clothing, hair, toys, etc. Children are exposed to these surfaces mostly where thirdhand smoke can be found, like on the floor, on any other objects, or on the clothes in the house. Children have the habit of touching all the objects and then putting these objects or their hands in their mouth which increases the exposure as well as the risk of thirdhand smoke.
According to a report it was seen that 95% of those children who are living in their smoke-free homes also do have thirdhand smoke on their hands which leads to an increase in the chances of lung-related disease or any other kind of disease.
The research was done on children who came from no-smoking families and this research was done by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and San Diego State University. In this research, the researchers found that nicotine is found almost in the hands of 500 children. They used wipes to detect the nicotine or thirdhand smoke on their hands and they were stunned after the result. The scientists expected the exposure of nicotine on their hands would be zero as they came from a non-smoking home but it was not really that case.
There are different types of health effects of thirdhand smoke in children. As, children are mostly exposed to this thirdhand smoke as they have a habit of touching the floors, clothes, or any other object in the house and putting their hands in the mouth which leads to an increase in the risk of getting any disease through this nicotine.
Some of the diseases or health effects that can happen to children who are exposed to thirdhand smoke are asthma, ear infections, frequent illness as well as pneumonia. Infants are also exposed to thirdhand smoke which can lead to sudden death or any severe disease. From some research, it has been found that infants who are exposed to smoke are one of the biggest risks for sudden infant death syndrome. SIDS is a syndrome or an unexplained death that happens to infants or babies of less than a year old. One of the other large risk factors of SIDS is improper sleeping position.
