Question

Abstract

Thirdhand smoke (THS) is the fraction of cigarette smoke that persists in indoor environments after smoking. We investigated the effects of neonatal and adult THS exposure on bodyweight and blood cell populations in C57BL/6 J mice. At the end of neonatal exposure, THS-treated male and female mice had significantly lower bodyweight than their respective control mice. However, five weeks after neonatal exposure ended, THS-treated mice weighed the same as controls. In contrast, adult THS exposure did not change bodyweight of mice. On the other hand, both neonatal and adult THS exposure had profound effects on the hematopoietic system. Fourteen weeks after neonatal THS exposure ended, eosinophil number and platelet volume were significantly higher, while hematocrit, mean cell volume, and platelet counts were significantly lower compared to control. Similarly, adult THS exposure also decreased platelet counts and increased neutrophil counts. Moreover, both neonatal and adult THS exposure caused a significant increase in percentage of B-cells and significantly decreased percentage of myeloid cells. Our results demonstrate that neonatal THS exposure decreases bodyweight and that THS exposure induces persistent changes in the hematopoietic system independent of age at exposure. These results also suggest that THS exposure may have adverse effects on human health.

1. What was the hypothesis, prediction, or objective of this study?

Answer 1

The objective of this study was to assess health beliefs of adults regarding thirdhand smoke exposure of the children and whether smokers and nonsmokers differ in those beliefs.the 2006 surgeon Generals report on involuntary smoking concluded that more than 126 million people are exposed to secondhand smoke, 50,000 deaths per year are caused by SHS and there is no safe level of exposure. This study uses a nationally representative sample of adults to determine the prevalence of recognizing the dangers associated with thirdhand smoke and the association with household smoking bans.We hypothesized that belief about the harmful health effects of thirdhand smoke would be associated with higher rates of strict no-smoking policies within the home