‘Lingering smoke’ after a cigarette is out may harm you

If lung cancer, bad breath, yellowed teeth and fingers, breathlessness, the ever-increasing price of cigarettes, and the harmful effects of second-hand smoke on friends and family, and more specifically children, aren’t motivation enough to quit smoking, then perhaps a new phenomenon coined “third-hand” smoke will do the trick.

Third-hand smoke is the tobacco smoke contamination that lingers even after your cigarette has been extinguished; whether trapped in your hair, in the couch cushions or in your T-shirt, the toxic particulate matter of which cigarettes are composed sticks around long after you’ve finished that drag. Thus, when children come in contact with a smoker, they also come in contact with approximately 250 poisonous gases, chemicals and metals, eleven classified as group one carcinogens, which cling to their person and home.

Third-hand smoke is particularly relevant to mothers who are in frequent contact with their children. Think about how often your child wraps his arms around your neck and buries his head in your shoulder when he’s sad or sleepy, inhaling all the bad stuff in cigarettes that gets trapped in your sweater. Or if you’re a breastfeeding mom and smoker, the toxins are transferred to your child via breast milk. Children are especially susceptible to third-hand smoke because they often crawl and play on carpeted flooring and touch and put their mouths on contaminated surfaces. Low levels of tobacco particulate have been linked with cognitive deficits among children; the greater the exposure, the lower the reading score.

It was only a matter of time before researchers found yet another weapon to combat the battle against smoking. It’s getting more and more difficult to see the attraction of it. If quitting for your own health isn’t enough to make you kick the habit, do it for your loved ones.

If the health of your loved ones isn’t enough to quit, than perhaps a lovely trip south for a family of four could entice? At the cost of cigarettes today, and at the disastrous rate of one pack per week, enough money could be saved from quitting smoking to send a family of four to a vacation destination down south at an all-inclusive four-star hotel. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but the way this summer’s weather has been, I would seriously consider the trip.