Search results for: "thirdhand smoke"

A new study investigating the effect of thirdhand smoke (THS) in a mouse model system specially designed to mimic the genetic diversity of human populations has shed new light on how genetic predispositions contribute to an individual’s cancer risk. This work is an instrumental step towards building a more realistic understanding of how tobacco smoke residue could impact cancer risk in people.

A new study found that concentrations of toxic chemicals lingering indoors where cigarettes have been smoked can exceed risk guidelines from the State of California. This means that non-smokers can be exposed to health risks by living in contaminated spaces.

The thirdhand smoke (THS) research group in Biosciences’ Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division contributed to three recently-published studies that further underscore the harms of exposure to the lingering toxic residues from tobacco smoke.

Berkeley Lab thirdhand smoke researchers have been awarded a new three-year grant totaling $904,744. The funding from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) will support translational studies aimed at mitigating health impacts of exposure to thirdhand smoke (THS)—the toxic residues from tobacco smoke that linger on indoor surfaces and in dust long after a cigarette has been extinguished. From the Biosciences Area, Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division staff scientist Bo Hang will serve as principal investigator on the studies, with senior scientist Jian-Hua Mao and staff scientist Antoine Snijders, also of BSE, as co-investigators. Collaborators on the project include staff scientist Hugo Destaillats and retiree affiliate Lara Gundel in the Energy Technologies Area (ETA) at Berkeley Lab, as well as researchers at California Consortium on Thirdhand Smoke partner institutions UC San Francisco and UC Riverside.

Several Biosciences Area personnel are among the 2018 Berkeley Lab Director’s Awards honorees. This annual program recognizes outstanding contributions by employees to all facets of Lab activities. A complete list of winners can be found here. Details on the awards ceremony will be posted in TABL.

Cigarette smoke contains myriad compounds that are known mutagens and carcinogens, and the health risks associated with active smoking and secondhand smoke are well established. Nearly 10 years ago, researchers at Berkeley Lab identified another potentially hazardous source of tobacco exposure: “thirdhand smoke,” the toxic residues that linger on indoor surfaces and in dust long after a cigarette has been extinguished. A team led by Antoine Snijders, Jian-Hua Mao, and Bo Hang in Biosciences’ Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division have determined that early thirdhand smoke exposure is also associated with increased incidence and severity of lung cancer in mice.