Toxins from tobacco smoke persists in smokers' homes for at least six months after they quit and remain a threat to nonsmoking residents, according to researchers.
The team studied 65 smokers who were quit smoking and discovered that tiny particles from burning tobacco get into surfaces such as carpets, wallpaper, ceiling tiles upholstery, clothes, blankets and pillows and were still present long after a smoker quit, The New York Times reported.
There were large immediate declines in nicotine on surfaces and in dust, which then leveled off and remained the same, but still detectable, by the end of the study period, according to the study in the journal Tobacco Control.
And even six months after smokers quit, nonsmokers still in the same home still had detectable levels of a marker of tobacco exposure in their urine after six months, The Times reported.