Third-hand Smoke

Have you heard of third-hand smoke? We usually talk about second-hand smoke, that is, smoke that we inhale when someone is smoking. Well, third-hand smoke refers to the smoke deposited on the hair and clothing of a smoke. When someone has smoked and enters a lift and we happen to be in, we can smell the smoke. That is third-hand smoke emitting from his hair or dress.

Similar to second-hand smoke, third-hand smoke is detrimental to non-smokers’ health too. Some of the chemicals that get trapped on the smoker’s hair or attire contains carcinogens which cause cancer. Hence if a mother smokes and she carries her baby, the infant may touch her hair or clothing and these chemicals get transferred to the baby’s hand. If he sucks his fingers the chemicals go into his mouth, making him sick.