This is why we advise that smokers should wait for 30 minutes after smoking before picking up a baby, making sure they wash their hands first.
Protecting your baby from smoke
Thirdhand smoke refers to smoke and toxic chemicals left on clothes and other surfaces in the area of a smoker. When you or someone else smokes outside and then holds the baby, smoke and toxic chemicals can be transferred to the baby.
There's clear evidence that children exposed to second-hand smoke are at an increased risk of early death and disease from various causes. Second-hand smoke can harm a baby's breathing, heart rate and growth, which can put the baby at a higher risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI).
In children, secondhand smoke exposure can cause respiratory infections, ear infections, and asthma attacks. In babies, secondhand smoke can cause sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
People are exposed to the chemicals in thirdhand smoke when they touch contaminated surfaces or breathe in the gases that thirdhand smoke may release. Infants and young children are at greater risk for exposure to thirdhand smoke than adults due to activities such as crawling and putting non-food items in their mouths.
To protect the children inside, homes and apartment buildings must be smoke-free. No amount of secondhand smoke is safe. Even when you can't smell it, cigarette smoke can still harm your child. Opening a window or using a fan does not protect children.
Our data show that nicotine, nicotine-related alkaloids and TSNAs could be readily removed from cotton fabrics by washing, which could become a simple remediation procedure. This study focused on THS that had aged in fabrics that are often used in homes and clothing.
Thoroughly wash walls and ceilings with detergent and very hot water to remove as much nicotine and tar residue as possible. Wear gloves and use multiple clean rags to prevent simply pushing the residue around. Wash, rinse, repeat!
Researchers at San Diego State University's Department of Psychology have found that homes of former smokers remained polluted with thirdhand smoke for up to 6 months after the residents quit smoking.
Other animal studies and studies of human cells have shown that being exposed to thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage and a reduction in DNA repair. The toxic chemicals in thirdhand smoke disrupts multiple steps in cell reproduction, causing issues with new cells.
Don't smoke or vape near your baby. If possible, smoke outside. Make your house and car smoke-free to keep your baby away from secondhand smoke. After vaping, change your clothes, and wash your hands before holding your baby.
Secondhand Smoke and Your Children's Health
Infants have a higher risk of SIDS if they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Children have a higher risk of serious health problems, or problems may become worse. Children who breathe secondhand smoke can have more: Ear infections.
Secondhand smoke (SHS) is smoke from burning tobacco products, like cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, or pipes. 1,2,3. Secondhand smoke exposure occurs when people breathe in smoke breathed out by people who smoke or from burning tobacco products.
Are lingering smoking odors harmful? There's very little research so far on whether lingering tobacco smoke odors or residuals from it on surfaces can cause cancer in people. Research does show that particles from secondhand tobacco smoke can settle in dust and on surfaces and remain there long after the smoke is gone.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to remove any smoke smells from clothes is to expose them to fresh air and wash them in the washing machine.
To remove any odors or residue, wash your hands with warm water and a mixture of baking soda and soap. Make sure you do not skip on the skin under your nails and between your fingers, especially if you are a smoker.
1. Wave a wet towel around the room. You'll look like a windmill, but a wet towel will suck in smoke particles. Spend ten minutes twice a day for a week doing this and most of the smoke odor should have disappeared.
baking soda. Sprinkle baking soda over the smoke-affected area and let it sit for a few hours before vacuuming it up. Be sure to test the baking soda on a small part of the surface to ensure that the surface or fabric doesn't react unfavorably to the baking soda.
Depending on your steps and diligence in combating the smoke particles, your odor removal timeline could range anywhere from two weeks to a month. But remain patient since your house fire is unique. A precise timeframe will come from your assessment and which steps you determine to be most useful.
It lingers
Second-hand smoke lingers for up to 5 hours after your last cigarette. Even if you smoke when they're at school or out playing, second-hand smoke will still be around, waiting for your kids to breathe it in when they get home.
If someone in your household smokes and isn't ready to quit, you can still protect your baby. Ban smoking inside the house and the car. Any smoker (including you, if you smoke) should smoke only outside, away from windows and doors. If you wear a jacket or sweatshirt while smoking, take it off before holding the baby.
It is especially important that you do not share a bed with your baby if either parent is a smoker, even if you don't smoke in the bedroom. It has been shown that the chance of SIDS if bed sharing when you or your partner is a smoker is much greater than if you were both non-smokers.
Smoke as far away from your baby as possible
To prevent exposing your baby to environmental tobacco smoke and particulates small enough to inhale, any smoker in your household should smoke outside or at least in a room away from the baby.
Henry says it only takes about 30 minutes of exposure before there is a significant amount of detectable nicotine in the blood stream. How quickly it begins to create negative health impacts is different for different people.