New Method Developed to Measure Third-hand Smoke in Common Household Fabrics

Terry cloth exposed to tobacco smoke for various periods of time, and the THS levels recovered. [Photos from Pozuelos et al. (2021) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18:3592)]

Giovanna Pozuelos, a CMDB graduate student, Ester Omaiye, an ETOX graduate student, Prof. Prue Talbot, an ETOX faculty member and their collaborators have developed a method to allow levels of third-hand smoke (THS) components on common indoor fabrics to be rapidly assessed.  Their method should facilitate the identification of repositories of THS contaminants within homes and improve clean-up.  The work was recently highlighted in UCR News.  More information can be found here.  Our congratulations to Giovanna, Prue, Ester and their team for developing this new method.