Third-hand smoke also bad for you: study

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – You know smoking is bad for you. You know inhaling someone else's smoke is bad for you. Now a US study says third-hand smoke -- tobacco residue clinging to surfaces -- is also bad for you.

When a cigarette burns, nicotine is released in the form of a vapor that collects and condenses on indoor surfaces such as walls, carpeting, drapes and furniture, where it can linger for months, said the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Our study shows that when this residual nicotine reacts with ambient nitrous acid it forms carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines, or TSNAs," said Hugo Destaillats, a corresponding author of the study.

"TSNAs are among the most broadly acting and potent carcinogens present in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke," he said.

The most likely human exposure to TSNAs is through either inhalation of dust or the contact of skin with carpet or clothes -- making third-hand smoke particularly dangerous to infants and toddlers.

Opening a window or turning on a fan to air out a room while a cigarette burns does not eliminate the hazard of third-hand smoke. Smoking outdoors doesn't help much either.

"Smoking outside is better than smoking indoors but nicotine residues will stick to a smoker's skin and clothing," said Lara Gundel, a co-author of the study.

"Those residues follow a smoker back inside and get spread everywhere. The biggest risk is to young children," she said.

"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."

Substantial levels of TSNAs were also found in the truck of a heavy smoker, the study says, adding that most vehicle engines emit some nitrous acid that can infiltrate the passenger compartment of a vehicle.

Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory led the study, which they say is the first to quantify the reactions of third-hand smoke with nitrous acid.

Reference: Yahoo news: Third hand smoke also bad for you

Imagination

"Imagination is everything. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." Albert Einstein

I have been thinking about this quote by Einstein. Science and maths have always been subjects that required a lot of imagination without us realising it. In maths, numbers require imagination because they are abstract in nature. For example, there is no such thing as a "5". It cannot be seen. However, you can see 5 oranges, 5 cars and 5 tables. "5" therefore, is something that we have to imagine and relate to in order to grasp the fundamentals of maths, such as addition and subtraction.

Likewise, there is a lot of imagination in biology. We cannot see molecules or atoms floating about within our body. Yet, they are there and we have to imagine how these small particles come together to make up the whole organism. Sometimes, imagination is hard work, but with time, imagination lays the foundation for greater discoveries.

Please don't lose your imagination and ability to visualize and understand the "scientific definitions"! On a lighter note, here is a really imaginative movie :) :