Are a smoker’s clothes and skin carcinogenic?

Yale University scientists working with researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry monitored the presence of off-gassed third-hand VOC tobacco compounds inside a movie theater where smoking is not allowed. While secondhand smoke comes from the end of a lit cigarette or the exhalation of smoke, third-hand smoke is the result of residual particles being absorbed into fabric and material like clothing, hair, furniture, and carpet. The scientists measured the amount of VOCS that smokers had on their skin, breath, and clothing and determined during a 1-hour period the equivalent of 1 to 10 cigarettes was emitted as passively smoked gas.