Hugo Destaillats, a famous professor investigated more than six years the third-hand smoke effects. He discovered that third-hand smoke has the same harmful effects as second-hand smoke, which is identified as able to cause cancer.

"If a non-smoker can smell the tobacco smoke, there he/she will observe that something there went from the surfaces to his/her sensation. That something is third-hand smoke," said Destaillats.

This research was conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., detected how nicotine reacts with pollutants in the air when it remains on indoor areas and can harm people’ health even after the smoke is gone long time ago.

"Because of the reactions that can happen on the surfaces, third-hand smoke can become more harmful even over time as it acts with the common pollutant nitrous acid," explained Lara Gundel one of the scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Scientists as Destaillats, Gundel and many other researchers started this exposure act by testing how much nicotine reacted with the ozone. After investigating these reactions, the researchers became very surprised.

"We were very eager to know more about whether or no pollutants that would be ordinarily or frequently present indoors would react with tobacco smoke that would remain on the objects of indoor environments, which then people would inhale those smoke particles," Gundel said.

While a cigarette burns, the nicotine which is inside it is emancipated in a vapor shape, which can very easy clutch to objects like floors, drapes, carpeting and furniture.

Researchers started looking at what happens after the cigarette smoke leaves the chamber. They observed that at a short period smoke gradually disappeared and of course a part of it remained on surfaces. They also discovered that when nicotine is mixed with the pollutant nitrous acid, it can generate harmful carcinogens known as tobacco-specific nitrosamines.

Destaillats and Gundel also looked at what happens inside the truck of a smoker and also found high levels of nitrosamines. “We are expecting to be able to give our recent research to biologists so they can continue this investigation and to find out what these carcinogens do when they enter inside the human body,” Gundel added.