Toxins stay in smokers' houses for months

For smokers, physicians often recommend one of the best ways to immediately improve their health: stop smoking. But for the smokers (and the nonsmokers they live with), it could take months to reap the full benefits of eliminating tobacco use, reported the New York Times.

That’s because, as a new study from the journal Tobacco Control shows, toxins from smoking remain in smokers’ homes for up to six months after they quit—and maybe longer.

The researchers examined the homes of 65 smokers in the process of quitting. And while some cigarette toxins disappeared from their houses as soon as the cigarettes themselves did, others remained. Such toxins proved even more insidious than the tangible smoke because they were invisible and unexpected.

When the study participants smoked, particles of smoke, nicotine, tobacco and other compounds seeped into the physical parts of their homes. The Times pointed out “carpets, upholstery, pillows, blankets, clothes, even wallpaper and ceiling tiles” as examples. The toxins could continue to poison the residents of the house even after the smoking had stopped.

In fact, some were still on hard surfaces and in the dust particles of the house at least six months after the smoker had quit. And most tellingly, the toxins could still be detected in the nonsmokers’ urine after six months, meaning it could be harmful for nonsmokers to live in a house where someone had previously smoked.

Check out the New York Times to see why people often feel their quitting smoking is enough to get rid of its dangerous effects right away.