Expert warns vs dangers of thirdhand smoking

A health expert on Tuesday warned of the dangers posed by thirdhand smoking.

In a media briefing, Dr. Glynna Ong-Cabrera, smoking cessation program adviser of the Lung Center of the Philippines, explained that thirdhand smoke is made up of pollutants that settle indoors when tobacco is smoked.

“The thirdhand smoke is the one that sticks to the wall, the table, and the chair,” Cabrera said.

Thirdhand smoke is a term to describe the residual contamination from tobacco smoke that lingers in rooms or remains in clothes after leaving a smoky place.

Cabrera warned that is also increases an individual’s risk of developing certain cancers, such as lung cancer, and other chronic diseases like asthma.

“It can trigger asthma, especially in children. Because when children inhale these chemicals as secondhand, thirdhand smokers, it can trigger their asthma, weaken their immune system, and they may even acquire respiratory track infections,” Cabrera said.

The chemicals in thirdhand smoke also include nicotine as well cancer-causing substances such as formaldehyde and naphthalene.

“The chemicals we emit are also the same chemicals they inhale and when they inhale it, the risk for cancer also increases. In some studies, they say there’s a 20 percent chance of getting cancer,” Cabrera continued.

“In one of our studies, we learned from the persons we interviewed who got cancer that they had no history of smoking, the number one among those we interviewed were married to people who smoked... The percentage of secondhand smokers developing cancer is high,” she added.

Meanwhile, A health expert on Tuesday said the prevalence of tobacco is decreasing worldwide.

“Globally, smoking is actually decreasing. The prevalence of smoking or tobacco use in other countries has been greatly reduced,” Dr. Maricar Limpin, Action on Smoking and Health Philippines Executive Ditector, said during a media forum.

“So the decrease in that prevalence, we expect that the diseases or death caused by smoking will also decrease,” Limpin added.

However, she said, tobaccorelated deaths are still high.

“When we look at it, tobacco is still the number one reason why people die globally, including the Philippines,” she added.

Citing a study, Limpin said 112,000 die yearly due to tobaccorelated illness and exposure to the second-hand smoke.

“Twelve to 13 Filipinos die every day due to smoking-related illnesses,” she continued.