Ultra-passive (or tertiary) smoking, risky exposures in closed places

Passive or secondary smoking is well known; it results from the exposure of a non-smoker to the inhalation of tobacco smoke present in the ambient air (coming from both the lit end of the cigarette and the air exhaled by the smoker). Third-hand or ultra-passive smoking is less well known; it results from the inhalation of toxic products present in tobacco smoke which are, firstly, fixed on the body of the smoker, his clothing and the furniture and objects present in the room where he smoked, then which, secondly, are released into the air and can then be inhaled. Researchers from Yale University in New Haven in the USA and the Max Planck Institute in Mainz in Germany, have just published in Science Advances[1], a study in which they quantified the toxic products related to tobacco smoke present in the air exhausted by the ventilation system of a cinema where smoking is prohibited and which is supplied with fresh, filtered air from outside. Fine particles, numerous volatile organic compounds specific to tobacco smoke and nicotine were present at high concentrations, in the order of those related to passive smoking that would result from exposure to the inhalation of passive smoke produced by one to ten cigarettes. The entry into the cinema of each new wave of spectators was followed by a rapid increase in the presence of these toxic products, which confirms that these products were present on the bodies and clothing of smokers when they entered the cinema. This study confirms the existence of third-hand smoking and suggests that its importance may be higher in smaller and less well-ventilated spaces, such as bars, offices and public means of transport. Overall, the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies confirms that smokers carry components of tobacco smoke on their skin and clothing, which they emit into the atmosphere even when they are not smoking. According to some studies, this exposure to ultra-passive smoking, depending on the circumstances, could account for 5 to 60 % of the total exposure of non-smokers to passive and ultra-passive smoking combined. (M Sleiman et al, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014; 48:13093-13101 ©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] ROGER SHEU, CHRISTOF STÖNNER, JENNA C. DITTO, THOMAS KLÜPFEL, JONATHAN WILLIAMS, DREW R. GENTNER « Human transport of thirdhand tobacco smoke: A prominent source of hazardous air pollutants into indoor nonsmoking environments » Science Advances, March, 4 2020, https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/10/eaay4109 | ©National Committee Against Smoking |