The term "third-hand smoke" refers to that part of cigarette smoke which is not inhaled by either the smoker themselves or by passive smokers, but is deposited on surfaces, cushions, carpets, curtains or clothing. There, the concentrations of toxic substances from cigarettes are far higher than in smoky air, and they can be released again, for example by contact with the skin.In fact, only about 30% of the smoke is inhaled. The remaining 70% go out into the atmosphere and form a reservoir of "third-hand smoke". This is why scientists at the Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology (IHB) at the Hohenstein Institute studied the question of whether and to what extent "third-hand smoke", in the form of the toxic substances on clothing, could damage the health of infants.
Unlike with passive smoking, where the risks of inhaled nicotine, which is toxic to the nervous system, are well-known, the first question in connection with "third-hand smoke"
was to examine whether there are other health risks if the transmission channel is the skin. So researchers at the Hohenstein Institute wanted to find out exactly what happens when parents have a smoke outside on the balcony and then, after their break, take their baby in their arms again.
To find the answer, the scientists at the IHB used a specially developed cell culture model of baby skin - a 3D skin model, the cell composition, structure and properties of which imitate the skin of babies and toddlers. To simulate the effects of third hand smoke, a T-shirt was deliberately impregnated with nicotine, the main toxic ingredient of cigarettes, just like during a smoker's break on the balcony. So that the quantity of the toxin could be verified afterwards, radioactively marked nicotine was used. Then the smoke impregnated textiles were placed on the baby skin and the penetration of the nicotine into the skin was tracked in tracer studies.
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