TO effectively fight diseases and viruses, we require healthy environments that are free of pollution. Through normal gaseous exchange, healthy lungs ensure enough oxygen for every cell in the body to thrive - including the cells in our immune system. If our lungs are loaded with toxins such as nicotine from smoking, they can’t adequately oxygenate vital cells in the body.

National policies prohibit smoking in public except in restricted zones. This helps reduce second- hand inhalation of smoke. But we must be aware of another danger of tobacco smoke: Third-hand smoke (THS) is when smoke residue settles and lingers on walls, carpets, toys and so on wherever there is any smoking even when the smoker is no longer in the area and long after active smoking has stopped.

Smoke reacts with atmospheric chemicals, emits toxins and re-suspends in air. Smoke residue also becomes trapped in dust particles, and these contain high amounts of nicotine. Vacuuming carpets or ventilating rooms can’t remove such residue.

A study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences unravels the hidden health hazards of THS.

Animal studies show how detrimental it is to developing lungs. Babies are vulnerable because they not only breathe in the smoke particles but they also touch and mouth smoke-laden things, thus ingesting the poison.

Crawling allows toxins trapped in carpets, on floors or in baby cots to enter their bodies through their delicate skin. In babies, significant amounts of toxins aren’t cleared effectively because their systems aren’t fully mature and this harms the baby’s body and lungs.

Imagine this scenario: Your baby is being breast-fed yet she has a middle ear infection, is wheezing yet again, and has to be put on antibiotics. The doctor asks questions about pets and smokers and you say that there is strictly no smoking when the baby is home. What about when the baby is away? It turns out there is a family member who smokes in the home when the baby is out.

While the smoker might be aware of the dangers of smoking and even of second-hand smoke, he/she might not know about THS. A study published in Pediatric Research revealed that among 1,406 parents, only 27% had heard about THS. In the journal Pediatrics, 1,500 smokers and non-smokers were surveyed about the hazards of second-hand and THS: 84% of smokers believed second-hand smoke is dangerous to children while only 43% believed THS is harmful.

Another study found fathers and heavier smokers were less likely to believe that THS is harmful. Encouraging smoking parents to quit or adopt smoke-free homes were associated with parental belief that THS harms children. Parents who smoked perceived

second-hand and THS exposure less frequently than non-smokers. Awareness of parental smoking behaviours allows us to increase their awareness of exposure to tobacco smoke.

Health is closely linked to a clean external environment and a healthy internal milieu. THS pollutes the external environment and poisons the internal milieu in more ways than one. Public health policies must be based on this knowledge, while parents must be educated on how THS can endanger a baby in so many ways.

Dr PRAMEELA

KANNAN KUTTY

Professor of Paediatrics, Universiti Pertahanan

Nasional Malaysia

https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2020/05/29/invisible-enemy-at-home