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• January 14, 2010 10:20 a.m.

  Never heard of third-hand smoke until now, I am home today sick because of the smell of cigarettes, my co-worker smokes and when she comes on I could smell on the jacket she wears to go outside to smoke. I started coughing, and coughing and today I have been using my inhaler. Since it is winter and the windows are close and the fact that she is smoking more than ever caused me to cough and get worst. I am so afraid to hurt her feelings and let know how much it bothers me, so I talked to my boss. I hope there is a solution.

  - AR

• November 17, 2009 7:05 p.m.

  Hi, I'm a student at Metro State of Denver. I'm researching a new product possibility; the product would be a "Quit Smoking" aide that offers a stepping down approach. I am a former smoker myself but I'm addicted to Commit lozenges and they contain nicotine. I would still buy them if they had zero mg of nicotine but they don't offer that. I would like to market a product that does. Anyways, I made this survey for my research project and it would really help me if anyone could take it [smokers, former smokers, and non-smokers are all welcome] Thanks so much. -- Casey Here's the link to the survey. http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/206243/r2zgt

  - Casey

• November 15, 2009 1:49 p.m.

  Excellent article, Ms. Kern. For those questioning the veracity of the journal article from which the thirdhand smoke information was drawn, please be aware that it was not the first article that addressed the issue of thirdhand smoke. While the article in question did focus on people's beliefs on thirdhand smoke and household smoking bans, another article preceded it that offers significant, persuasive information on the health effects of thirdhand smoke. Only when taken together do both articles convey why people should be so concerned about thirdhand smoke and its effects: Matt, G. E., Quintana, P. J. E., Hovell, M. F., Bernert, J. T., Song, S., Novianti, N., Juarez, T., Floro, J., Gehrman, C., Garcia, M., Larson, S. (2004). Households contaminated by environmental tobacco smoke: sources of infant exposures. Tobacco Control, 13: 29-37. --Kathy in Florida

  - No name given

• November 10, 2009 5:28 p.m.

  You are all idiots. If you would check the journal this information is came from you would find out there is nothing scientific about it. The original article was based on responses from phone interviews to judge people's feelings on smoking. You would have to lick all of the walls in a smoker's house before "third hand smoke" would affect you at all. There are probably more toxins left in residue from household cleaners around your home. You shouldn't believe everything you read!

  - Ashley

• September 14, 2009 9:39 a.m.

  I'm glad toee yourarticles on third hand smoke and smoke residue, my husband a former smoker now sees what I have always said about the stench left behind by cigs, but he couldn't believe the smoke residue on peoples clothing etc. actually took my breath away and if I am in prolonged contact I wind up short of breath and have excessive mucus and coughing for a week after contact. I have a dr. appt. scheduled to have this checked but am so glad I can now prove to my husband that it is not my imagination that this happens.

  - Debbie

• July 18, 2009 2:42 a.m.

  There really needs to be more information out there about third hand smoke. I'm so glad it's being talked about here. Bless you Mayo Clinic.

  - mrxsmoker

• May 20, 2009 6:23 a.m.

  quit smoking now. it does nothing good to a person, it also affects other person. support World No Tobacco Day. On may 31st, we celebrate World No Tobacco Day which has been declared by the World Health Organization. To engage and educate the public about the issues, a free ebook is being given away.Support World No Tobacco Day today! Visit www.TobaccoBook.com for the book's website.

  - notobaccocampaign

• May 13, 2009 10:56 a.m.

  I do agree that we all must respect the rights of others. Sad to say, some people are just down right selfish; not only with their smoking habits, but in other ways as well. We just need to remember, we all live in this world together and must share the air we breathe, so let's all be healthwise and respectful of others. It may just save our lives and the lives of others. It is, however, a shame that we need laws to promote or encourage this type of behavior.

  - Miss Shore

• May 10, 2009 12:53 a.m.

  (To end my sentence that didn't go through)..... Except of course to people that do not care for people other than themselves.

  - Samantha

• May 10, 2009 12:49 a.m.

  Miss Shore,......If a person over eats they are only effecting themselves. When a person smokes, they are effecting not only themselves but everyone around them. It's like driving under the influence of alcohol, that person runs the risk of ending not only their own lives but others around them; has happened many times but yet people still get behind the wheel after a couple of drinks stating "they can hold their own liquor". If smokers wants to smoke, fine, smoke away but "Away" from other people! I personally am sick and tired of people smoking in the hallway and the stinch & yes, "toxins" getting into my home! None of us in my home smokes so we shouldn't have to put up with it. Sick of the stinch that lingers on me for hours when a smoker passes by me! The smell alone makes me nausea and I am not overexagerating ..... Yes, there are other things that are toxic around but that's no excuse for smokers not to respect the right of clean air of non-smokers which is what this is about. ....... I am not waiting for the 100% study you are waiting for because by then it may be too late! ...... In regards to ribbons, people don't go around wearing them all the time, usually it's spotted most at fundraisers or by people affected by an illness in one way or another but not 100% of the time. Some keep their illnesses private. ....Expecting smokers to "respect" non-smokers wishes to clean air is "common sense". Except of course

  - Samantha

• May 9, 2009 8:16 a.m.

  In regard to ribbons... I spoke incorrectly... the ribbons for lung cancer are "clear". Nevertheless, I don't see many people wearing those, in fact, I don't think I've ever seen one in public.

  - Miss Shore

• May 9, 2009 6:38 a.m.

  Also, to note, insn't it a shame that their are ribbons for almost every imaginable cancer disease known to man. I wonder, how come their insn't a ribbon for lung cancer? I think I know... it is because people have gone over board about smokers and attribute their lung cancer if they do or have smoked to the individual themselves... meaning they did it to themselves so the rest of the world doesn't care about them and that they should die and suffer. Sad, very sad. My grandfather and grandmother smoked Camel straights... yes, straights and they rolled their own occasionally. My grandfather was a car mechanic. He developed lung cancer as a secondary cancer to his brain cancer.... guess what they said caused his cancer?? Asbestos.... from all the brake jobs he did! OH, and my grandparents had the cleanest house in town!!

  - Miss Shore

• May 8, 2009 7:59 p.m.

  Yes, smoking and the smoke by smoking may be hazardous at some point. Where is the study about how long you must remain in an area before terrible side effects overcome a person and what would be the time frame. Allergy suffers: I do understand your predicament. However, everything outside and inside our environments can be noxious and harmful if exposed over long periods of time. Perhaps a bubble is the only solution. What about high tension power lines, car exhaust, diesel fuel exhaust, smog, agricultural fertilizers, residential lawn fertilizers, perfumes, personal deodorants, hair sprays, hair dyes, room fresheners, carpet cleaners, furniture polish, glass cleaner, processed foods, all the food we eat and grow and the animals from which we get our foods, the food processing plants, medications, clothing, fire retardant, the list can go on and on.... better get in the decontamination room yourself before you enter an enclosed environment inhabited by human beings or any other living creature. I am not trying to be sarcastic. But I do believe that you need to have common sense.... wouldn't it be great if common sense was addictive???

  - miss shore

• April 20, 2009 12:07 a.m.

  In respect to Mayo Clinic, they are not the only ones talking about 3rd Hand Smoke. Those with doubt, just google "Third Hand Smoke" and you'll find a good amount of article related to the topic focused on dangers specically to children.----I'm surprised it's coming out now. I personally get effected in more ways than one being around lingering smoke being allergic to it in any form which is not pleasant at all. If I'm highly exposed to smoke the next day I cannot function. ----- Yes there are many things out there not safe other than smoking but that does not mean we need to give in. We need to find as many ways possible to keep everyone safe. Especially adults who chooses not to smoke and children who deserve a fighting chance to live a healthy life.

  - Samantha

• April 10, 2009 12:17 p.m.

  To Maria, I would like to know what financial gain there is in telling people that smoking is bad. Isn't all the money in selling tobacco?? Just like the woman, Katherine, bellow me explains. There have been real studies done, this isn't just made up. Even if half of this information was true, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry when it comes to a child? You can't avoid what they will be exposed to in the world outside, but you can control what they are exposed to at home(where they spend most of their time. So in other words; Is it that hard for the parents to keep the smoking outside and to wash up when they are done? Or are people going to continue to argue this due to laziness??

  - Angela

• April 9, 2009 11:29 a.m.

  This is for A Silk who kept asking for the "fact" and where is the research.... as published in the New York Times: 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. Now you can go take a look for yourself. Its been proven time and time again what the effects of smoking and being exposed to smoking does. I have seen children in my care in the ER setting fight to breathe because of an asthmatic reaction to cigarette smoke. Its frightening and in my opinion, should be classified as child abuse. abuse as defined in Wikipedia: Abuse refers to the use or treatment of something (a person, item, substance, concept, or vocabulary) that is harmful. It can be classed by the target of abuse or the type of abuse. Ever see those car windows rolled up with the adult sucking on a cigarette and a child strapped into their car seat in the back??? Makes my stomach turn everytime I see it. How completely and utterly selfish. Which seems to be the common denominator when it comes to a smoker and their addiction.

  - sickof smoke

• April 8, 2009 11:26 a.m.

  I don't want to be breathing in all these toxins. Its sad when smokers are selfish by not caring about the air other people breathe especially young children. As you see all the smokers trying to defend themselves by saying this article is false or whatever. By them saying that is just showing you how selfish smokers are. Sad, sad

  - kal

• April 6, 2009 11:35 a.m.

  My mother died from lymphoma, after fifty years of smoking. It was a slow, terrible way to die. She was not quite 70, her father died at 99, and he never smoked. I had to throw out her books and couldn't wash the smell of smoke out her clothes. The smell of years of cigarette smoke (from both my parents) permeated everything they owned. It must be poisonous, it makes me absolutely sick. I had a chain-smoking friend who turned her white lace curtains yellow after only six months. I remember trying to wash the sticky grime off the little keepsakes of my mom's. It was the brownish tar from her cigarettes. Our dalmation died at seven from cancer, and I bet it was all the cigarette smoke she breathed, and how it permeated her pale skin.

  - Sonja

• April 5, 2009 10:31 a.m.

  I agree with the prior postings about third-hand smoke certainly existing. I work in a pharmacy, and have received many prescriptions from customers who smoke. The paper that is handed to me reeks of smoke, though I'm sure they haven't breathed on it. The smell lingers, which means that the chemicals probably do as well. Whether the rest of you choose to acknowledge this or not, it is there.

  - Kim

• April 2, 2009 9:31 a.m.

  Third hand smoke? What next? Oh yah fourth and fifth hand smoke of course!!! I have always researched your site for health info. you have clouded my trust a little. You say that new research has found..... but have failed to offer these sites to thinking people who need proof and are not just believers because someone says so. I will continue to check your site for info. with a different frame of mind. A friend of ours ended up at your clinic seeking medical attention for lung cancer and was told by one of your Dr.s at the time that smoking accounted for only 20% of lung cancers. Perhaps we should be researching for the other 80%. A person can't possibly have an instant heart attack because they smell smoke or people would be dropping to the ground all over the place. Yellow walls are also caused by heating your home with natural gas. We must use common sense, wondering if there was some financial gain for printing this article, so sad. If everyone in the world quit smoking would there be no more lung cancers, asthma or yellow walls? Good luck with that! By the way I am an ex-smoker. My only addiction now is common sense!

  - Maria

• April 1, 2009 7:16 p.m.

  I know exactly what is meant by 3rd hand smoke. I have a heart condition and my heart and body will feel sick, even before I smell smoke and even if no one is visibly smoking at the time. And I have been caught in elevators where someone who just extinguished a cigarette catches my elevator at the last second, and I have to breathe his/her exhale in that small space for however many floors, and I just try to hang in there without hardly breathing because I get sick and faint and my heart races. Even though people who aren't sensitive or have heart/lung problems don't think it's that big a problem, it is! Far more imminent than food preservatives etc. because I feel it NOW and I know that if I don't get out of that situation immediately, I will likely end up having a heart attack; it happens that quickly.

  - maryanne

• March 30, 2009 11:00 p.m.

  I have worked for many years in nursing roles in community and public health. As a non-smoker, who grew up in a non-smoking household, I applaud efforts to decrease or limit the amount of smoking and tobacco smoke people are exposed to. BUT I really think that before we further vilify smokers for their inability (sometimes lack of desire) to quit smoking, we (government, health agencies, society, etc) need to give equal attention to some of the other toxins the general public is exposed to. What about the harmful things in the foods we eat? The medication we take? The bottled water we drink? The household cleaning supplies we expose ourselves and our young children to? The numbers of vehicles moving through our cities and towns? What else is circulated in the air for long periods and lurking on surfaces? Most people will agree that cigarette smoke is harmful but continually repeating a mantra that blames and alienates certainly hasn't helped some of the smokers I know to quit.

  - cath

• March 27, 2009 11:02 a.m.

  Thank you, Mayo Clinic, for bringing attention to this important issue. As an asthmatic, I know firsthand about the effects of residual tobacco smoke. My lungs tell me when this residue is present (although my nose can usually detect it sooner). Keep in mind that this film of tobacco toxins also coats the air ducts of buildings where people smoke/have smoked, so this stuff continues to be circulated in the air for long periods. According to the CDC, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the US, killing more people than AIDS, alcohol, illegal drugs, murder, suicide, and car crashes, combined. If you are a smoker, you don't have to worry about the dangers of anything else, you are sucking the deadliest concoction of toxins and carcinogens directly into your lungs and forcing others around you to breathe it in as well. The Mayo Clinic can help you kick your deadly addiction to nicotine.

  - Keith

• March 26, 2009 11:56 p.m.

  i am a smoker for 36 years, not smart at all due to all the documentation. yes i am scared to death of dying of cancer, heart disease, emphzema, etc. and i am aware of the order, i can smell it, clean and clean. but an old furnace and brewing coffe and cooking etc also leaves residue that is yellowish brown. but third hand smoke ? com on, all those items from China are poisoning you and the diesel exhust in every plane, yruck, bus encluding the school buses that idle in front of the schools across this nation, they all will harm you MUCH sooner THAN FIRST, SEC., THIRD hand smoke. mayo knows more people die from lung cancer who haven't smoked. I know a lady who is 90 and still smokes, my mom. smoking IS unhealthy but there are many more things in our foods, water, fuels, products I feel should be attaked more so! My dog has cancer and is dying from walmart brand dog food, check the fda/gov web site for multiple pet products on recall, hundreds.

  - sam m.

• March 26, 2009 2:10 p.m.

  This article is rediculous. I think it's an article paid for by the drug companies who are marketing nico-ban or chantex. I used to depend on the Mayo Clinic's site for honest information. Lately their articles seem to come out of a drug companie's letter to salesmen.

  - steve