What is ultra-passive smoking and what are the health risks?

Céline Géraud, edited by Laura Laplaud 12:04 p.m., September 07, 2022

Passive smoking is the involuntary inhaling of smoke released by smokers.

Each year, it causes between 3,000 and 5,000 deaths.

"Ultra-passive" smoking, also called tertiary smoking, is different.

This is about being exposed to tobacco chemicals that get trapped in your home.

According to a recent American study by the Lawrence Berkelley National Laboratory, this phenomenon presents a real danger to health.

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Nicotine can stay in the air for years

Better not to smoke inside.

According to a study by American researchers, published in the journal

chemicals released into the air after smoking a cigarette remain in the room.

They attach themselves to walls, furniture, cushions, clothing, but also to hair or skin.

For months, even years, nicotine and the 4,800 toxic products present in the smoke will continue to pollute the atmosphere of the home or the car.

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"Nicotine comes into contact with nitrous acid, which is a compound linked to the combustion of the cigarette", explains the tobacco specialist, Alice Denoize.

"It's called gassing and it creates molecules called nitrosamines, which turn out to be carcinogenic."

An alarming finding

These nitrosamines, specific to tobacco, are known carcinogens, identifiable by the smell of cold tobacco which remains for a few hours after smoking before settling permanently on surfaces, in the fabrics of apartments.

An alarming finding that complements another American study, published in 2020. According to these researchers from Yale University, the amount of toxic compounds that clings to smokers, on their skin and clothes, is equivalent to the contact of one to ten cigarettes for those who rub shoulders with them.

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These substances would contribute to the development of more than 15 types of cancer

To limit this tertiary smoking, regular cleaning of contaminated surfaces is essential, common sense too.

"For example, you must not smoke at the window, because, it has been proven, toxic particles still come in", adds Alice Denoize.

“You should not become an Ayatollah of hygiene either, from the moment you smoke outside and that you do not remain static in the cloud of your own smoke, we partially limit the risks of contamination.

In the meantime, direct or indirect contact with these substances would contribute to the development of more than 15 types of cancer.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cigarettes cause more than eight million deaths each year.