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Lingering Nicotine on Smoker, Clothes, Car and Home is Health Hazard, Especially to Children

By Paul Napoli

February 10, 2010

Primary and second-hand tobacco smokes are documented causes of cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke, pulmonary disease and birth defects. Adverse health effects from second hand smoke have prompted legislation banning smoking in government, workplaces and public establishments across the United States, but researchers have only recently studied risks of contact with residual nicotine that clings to surfaces, fabrics and even a smoker's skin.

A new study found that residual nicotine from tobacco smoke reacts with the common indoor air pollutant nitrous acid to form cancer causing tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). The study, titled Formation of carcinogens indoors by surface-mediated reactions of nicotine with nitrous acid, leading to potential third-hand smoke hazards appears in the February 2010 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Co-authoring the PNAS paper are Hugo Destaillats, Mohamad Sleiman, Lara Gundel and Brett Singer, all with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (Berkeley Lab) Indoor Environment Department, plus James Pankow with Portland State University, and Peyton Jacob with the University of California, San Francisco.

When tobacco is burned, nicotine is released in vapor form into the air. This nicotine attaches to indoor surfaces such as walls, ceilings, floors, furniture and fabrics, clothing and skin, persisting for weeks to months and now termed as third-hand smoke. After nicotine combines with nitrous acid in the air, people are exposed to these potent carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines through skin absorption, dust inhalation and ingestion. Children are especially at risk.

'Smoking outside is better than smoking indoors but nicotine residues will stick to a smoker's skin and clothing,' said study researcher Lara Gundel in Berkeley Lab's news release. 'Those residues follow a smoker back inside and get spread everywhere. The biggest risk is to young children. Dermal uptake of the nicotine through a child's skin is likely to occur when the smoker returns and if nitrous acid is in the air, which it usually is, then TSNAs will be formed.'

Berkeley Lab's news release also included a statement by James Pankow, study co-author, saying that these results should raise concerns about safety of electronic cigarettes, which use a battery-powered vaporizer inside a plastic tube to deliver nicotine from a cartridge in mist form inhaled and exhaled by the user. E-cigarettes, marketed as a 'safer' cigarette, are not restricted by anti-smoking laws.

'Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco smoke, has until now been considered to be non-toxic in the strictest sense of the term,' says Kamlesh Asotra of the University of California's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which funded this study. 'What we see in this study is that the reactions of residual nicotine with nitrous acid at surface interfaces are a potential cancer hazard, and these results may be just the tip of the iceberg.'

If you or a loved one has suffered adverse health issues resulting from a defective or dangerous product, you may be entitled to compensation. When a product causes serious injury or death, it is important to contact a personal injury attorney who has experience in handling product liability cases. Products liability is the branch of law that deals with the liability of parties involved in the manufacturing of a product for any damages caused by the product. Call Napoli Bern Ripka LLP today at 888-529-4669 to discuss your case and determine if you are entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Napoli

Full post as published by New York City Personal Injury Lawyer on February 12, 2010 (boomark / email).