A recent study has revealed a disturbing fact: fewer than half of smokers know that poisons in cigarette smoke can linger on fabrics or hair. Many people are unaware that even smoking away from pregnant women or babies presents a risk, according to this new research that included a survey of 1,500 households.

 

Only a quarter of the smokers had strict rules about not smoking in the house, according to the report published in the journal Pediatrics.

Of course, it has been obvious for a long while that “second-hand” smoke, breathed when you are in the same room as someone smoking, is harmful particularly to children. Therefore, some parents adopt a strategy that involves not smoking in their child's presence. However, this might not help so much, as the toxic particulate matter from tobacco smoke remains on nearby surfaces, as well as the hair and clothing of the smoker, long after the cigarette has been put out.

 

Why are the children in danger? Well, it's easy to respond: they are more likely to breath in close proximity or even lick and suck the surfaces in question. Furthermore, other studies even linked this exposure to learning problems in children. Breastfeeding mothers who smoke also pass toxins on to their baby in their milk.

 

As previously mentioned, in order to perform the study, researchers surveyed more than 1,500 households, asking smokers and non-smokers about their attitudes. The results are worrying: 95% of non-smokers and 85% of smokers agreed that direct inhalation of second-hand smoke was harmful to children, but just 65% of non-smokers and 43% of smokers believed the same for “third-hand” smoke. Disappointing as it seems, only 26.7% of households which included a smoker had strict rules about non smoking in the home.

 

Researchers think that it's vital for pregnant women to be made ware of the possible risks associated with third hand smoke and alert those around them of the impact it could potentially have on the health of their baby, as the chemicals in cigarettes are well-known to significantly increase the risk of serious pregnancy complications. However, the 'Pediatrics' study does not call for a legal ban on cigarette smoking in the privacy of one's home, but it does urge parents to be aware of the hazards cigarettes cause to their children.

 

The so-called “third-hand” smoke is a residual contamination. Even if a smoker isn't actively smoking, toxic dust and dangerous volatile chemical compounds that filled the air while the cigarette was lit are still in the air. Unfortunately, they settle onto furniture surfaces, flooring and all the other object in the same room where the cigarette was smoked. It remains to be seen if people will start taking care of this matter too, because it's really important to do so.