Third-Hand Smoke: Unseen Toxins in Your Everyday Life

Third-Hand Smoke

Third-Hand Smoke Toxins

Most of us are aware of the dangers of smoking tobacco products.

According to the Center for Disease Control, or CDC, smoking causes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, lung disease, stroke, cancer, and heart disease.

Smoking also greatly increases your risk for immune system issues such as rheumatoid arthritis, along with eye diseases and tuberculosis.

Over 16 million Americans are believed to be living with an illness caused by smoking at this time.

Most of us are also aware of the health issues that can be caused by second-hand smoke.

The CDC blames as many as 41,000 nonsmoking adult deaths each year and as many as 400 infant deaths annually on complications of second-hand smoke exposure.

In adults, second-hand smoke causes coronary heart disease, lung cancer, strokes, and more.

In infants, second-hand smoke can cause slowed lung growth, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory problems, acute respiratory infections, severe asthma, and middle ear disease.

Those are the issues from smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke, but are you aware of the dangers of third-hand smoke?

What and Where is Third-Hand Smoke?

Third-hand smoke is not necessarily smoke, per se.

It is more like the residue that is left behind when people smoke.

This residue is full of unseen toxins and can be found almost everywhere you go.

Third-hand smoke is found in clothing, flooring, furniture, on toys, in vehicles, on subways, in restaurants and bars, and almost anywhere that anyone has smoked… even if it has been a long time past.

But that isn’t all.

In fact, according to a report out of Yale University, third-hand smoke can cling to the body and clothing of a smoker, and then be released into places where smoking has never even been allowed, such as movie theaters and churches.

What’s worse is that once these chemicals have been released into these locations, nonsmokers can be exposed to as many toxins as is in one to 10 cigarettes by the time the movie or church service ends.

Unknown Dangers of Third-Hand Smoke

According to a report from the Cleveland Clinic, there are several hidden dangers to third-hand smoke that you may not be aware of.

For example, it is believed that third-hand smoke could be the unknown cause of many cancer cases.

More and more people are being diagnosed with lung cancer who never smoked and who had little to no exposure to second-hand smoke.

It is believed that third-hand smoke could be the culprit.

Another study found that human DNA could be damaged by third-hand smoke.

Research from 2010 suggests that third-hand smoke can actually react with air-borne chemicals and form carcinogens which can cause cancer in humans.

Children are thought to be especially at risk because they are more often exposed to floors and surfaces where smoking residue has settled.

It is very difficult to remove the toxins from third-hand smoke once it is on surfaces and in fabrics.

It is said to remain in almost any surface it touches for months or even years.

Normal cleaning will not remove it, and although the smell may lessen, the toxins are not removed from simply “airing it out.”

Statistics Show Smoking is Deadly

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second most common cancer among both men and women.

The only type of cancers that top lung cancer is prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women.

As many as 116,300 men are diagnosed with lung cancer and 112,520 women are given this horrible diagnosis each year in the United States alone.

It is by far the leading cause of cancer death in both women and men. More people die from lung cancer than from prostate, breast, and colon cancer combined.

Cigarette smoking is reported by the CDC as the number one risk factor among those who are diagnosed with lung cancer.

From 80 to 90 percent of all lung cancer diagnoses in the United States are linked to smoking tobacco products.

Tobacco smoke is a mix of as many as 7000 chemicals, of which at least 70 are poisons known to cause cancer. And yet these products remain on the shelves for sale to those who choose to take those risks.

Third-Hand Smoke Victims Have No Choice

While products such as Zantac are quickly removed from the store shelves as soon as a “minimal cancer risk” is identified, tobacco products remain on the shelves for people to use at will.

A person with indigestion cannot choose to have that particular product because it could cause cancer, and yet the smoker is given the choice to use a product that affects not only him or her but many victims who do not have a choice.

All too often, those who are exposed to second-hand smoke were given no choice in the matter.

They either grew up in homes where smoking was prevalent, were forced to work in environments where smokers were or were exposed in other public locations.

Even more, third-hand smokers were never allowed to escape the dangers that they have been exposed to.

Even if a person has only ever been in areas where no one has ever smoked, they are still at risk of being exposed to third-hand smoke. This seems to make smoking products much more dangerous than Zantac.

It’s A Money Game

A report from the Maurer Foundation shows that the tobacco industry profits an estimated $35 BILLION in revenue, with as many as 6 million deaths contributed to the tobacco industry each year.

Tobacco profits are better than they ever have been, despite the increased taxes on its products. The tobacco industry makes more money than McDonald’s, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola combined per year… and kills more people.

If current trends continue, one person will die from tobacco use every 6 seconds during the 21st century. So why is this giant allowed to keep killing people? In the year 2014, the United States revenues from the taxes of the sale of tobacco products in the country were 15.56 billion dollars.

Ironically, some of that money goes to cancer research where they try to learn ways to prevent and treat or cure cancer.