Smoking may be more harmful than previously thought

Everyone knows that smoking is dangerous to health, but many of us have no idea how much. A new study, first published in the journal Science Advances, proves that cigarettes can be harmful even after a few hours. Remaining on the clothes and bodies of smokers, volatile organic compounds enter the lungs of not only the consumer of tobacco products, but also his non-smoker environment. So how harmful is the residual cigarette smoke ?

Cigarette smoke can be harmful even a few hours after using tobacco.

Why is cigarette smoke dangerous?

Evidence that cigarette smoke can remain on the body and clothing of a smoker has robbed researchers at Yale for several decades. The fact is that the so-called "third-hand smoke" or toxins that remain on an avid lover's clothes and skin can significantly increase the level of harmful volatile compounds indoors.

In order to test the hypothesis of researchers from Yale, a curious experiment was conducted in one of the cinemas in Germany. In a closed room of one of the halls, a high-resolution mass spectrometer was installed, which monitors the rise and fall of the levels of toxic substances released during the use of tobacco products. During the experiment, researchers noticed that surges in the concentration of certain toxins, such as 2,5-dimethylfuran, 2-methylfuran and acetonitrile, coincided with the time of arrival and departure of the audience from the audience. In addition, scientists have identified significant differences in the concentration of toxins depending on the time of day. So, the number of tobacco particles in the air was most increased during the screening of night movie shows or films rated 18+.

Although the study did not specifically determine exactly how many smokers were in a particular session, the researchers are confident that the results of the experiment clearly show that a large amount of toxins that are elusive to humans can be transferred unknowingly by us with clothing, skin and hair. Drew Gentner, one of the authors of the study, is sure that the experiment proves that substances such as benzene, acrolein, formaldehyde and nicotine are able to stand out from smokers ' clothes , thus “infecting” non-smoking visitors to the premises.

Experts unrelated to the new study suggest that the results of the experiment are not cause for serious concern. However, the data obtained by measuring the cinema hall using a mass spectrometer show that the emissions detected indoors can reach levels equivalent to the substance from several smoked cigarettes..

Thus, active smokers can harm not only their health, but also indirectly harm a large number of people around them, even if the last cigarette they smoked was used for its intended purpose a few hours before the person entered society. According to the study, emissions from “secondary” smoking may vary, ranging from 1 to 10 cigarettes depending on the size of the room and the number of people in it.