Is that nasty ash-tray tang that lingers on car-seat fabric, curtains in homes and the clothes of the nicotine addict strong enough to damage other people's health?
No.
According to some experts, third-hand smoke, as it is known, is as dangerous to health as the fumes billowing directly from a pipe or cigarette, particularly for babies and children.
Actually, no experts have ever said that because there is no evidence whatsoever for it. They have only surmised that people might be less inclined to smoke in their house if they believed that 'thirdhand smoke' killed.
The warning came from a paper produced in the respected journal Paediatrics earlier this year.
Much, much earlier this year. At the start of January in fact, and it was thoroughly debunked at the time, even by the Mail's own columnists, so why on earth is the Mail reporting it nine months later?
I won't go into the reasons why 'thirdhand smoke' is such a silly scare, as I have done so before. See Beyond Belief.
It must be a very slow news day.
(Note for those outside the UK: The Daily Mail is notorious for peddling health scares. A full list of all the things it says cause cancer can be seen at the excellent Kill or Cure? website.)
