U.S. hospital bans 'third-hand smoke'

Smokers beware: The crusade that’s seen you forced from bars, restaurants, patios and parks is being ratcheted up another notch.

A hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana, has told employees that it’s cracking down even further on smoking and its deadly health consequences by trying to stamp out third-hand smoke.

Third-hand smoke is the term given to toxins that linger on people’s clothing and other fabric after they’ve had a cigarette. Those toxins are especially dangerous for the developing brains of small children, health officials contend.

The Town Talk website reported this week that the Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital has notified all employees that, beginning next summer, they won’t be allowed to work if their clothes smell like smoke. The policy extends a rule that’s been in place for two years for people who work in areas dedicated to women and children.

"It's really a combination of push from our patients and from our associates who do not smoke and don't appreciate working with the smoke smell," Lisa Lauve, administrator of Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital, told the news site.

“If you are in a room or car where people usually smoke, even if they aren't smoking right then, you are exposed to third-hand smoke,” explains an advisory on the Canadian Lung Association’s website.

“This means you are exposed to toxic chemicals like lead and arsenic,” it says.

“Third-hand smoke also gets into household dust, which babies swallow when they put their hands in their mouths. Babies take in more third-hand smoke chemicals because they breathe more quickly and because they spend more time on the floor. Babies can take in 20 times more third-hand smoke than adults.”