Smoking and children

[Guest guest]

In the January issue of Pediatrics, researchers at MassGeneral Hospital for

Children (MGHfC) and colleagues across the country describe how tobacco smoke

contamination lingers even after a cigarette is extinguished – a phenomenon

they define as " third-hand " smoke. Their study is the first to examine health

risks to children of third-hand smoke and how those beliefs may relate to rules

about smoking in their homes. " When you smoke – anyplace – toxic particulate

matter from tobacco smoke gets into your hair and clothing, " says lead study

author, Winickoff, MD, MPH, assistant director of the MGHfC Center for

Child and Adolescent Health Policy. " When you come into contact with your baby,

even if you're not smoking at the time, she comes in contact with those toxins.

And if you breastfeed, the toxins will transfer to your baby in your

breastmilk. " Winickoff notes that nursing a baby if you're a smoker is still

preferable to bottle-feeding,

however. Particulate matter from tobacco smoke has been proven toxic. According

to the National Toxicology Program, these 250 poisonous gases, chemicals, and

metals include hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, butane, ammonia, toluene

(found in paint thinners), arsenic, lead, chromium (used to make steel), cadmium

(used to make batteries), and polonium-210 (highly radioactive carcinogen).

Eleven of the compounds are classified as Group 1 carcinogens, the most

dangerous. Small children are especially susceptible to third-hand smoke

exposure because they can inhale near, crawl and play on, or touch and mouth

contaminated surfaces. Third-hand smoke can remain indoors even long after the

smoking has stopped. Similar to low-level lead exposure, low levels of tobacco

particulates have been associated with cognitive deficits among children, and

the higher the exposure level, the lower the reading score. These findings

underscore the possibility that even

extremely low levels of these compounds may be neurotoxic and, according to the

researchers, justify restricting all smoking in indoor areas inhabited by

children. " The dangers of third-hand smoke are very real, " says Winickoff, who

is a professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a member of the

American Academy of Pediatrics' Richmond Center.