THE DANGERS OF PASSIVE exposure to tobacco smoke, when a person isn't smoking but someone else is, are well-documented. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since the mid-1960s, an estimated 2.5 million nonsmokers have died as a result of health problems caused by secondhand smoke - which can range from lung cancer to heart disease.

当一个人不吸烟但其他人却在吸烟的时候，被动接触烟草的危害很明显。据疾病预防控制中心表示，自20世界60年代中期，预估有250万不吸烟的人因二手烟造成的健康问题离世--包括肺癌和心脏病。

More recently, data increasingly suggests that thirdhand smoke - residual¹ nicotine² and other toxic³ chemicals from tobacco smoke that collect on surfaces, from carpet, furniture and curtains to a person's clothing - also pose a danger. Although the potential impact of thirdhand smoke is still being teased out, experts worry especially about those who cling most closely to surfaces: very young children, including babies and toddlers, who snuggle parents and crawl on the floor and frequently put their hands in their mouths. Residues⁴ from smoking like nicotine can remain on surfaces for weeks, months or years, and besides being accidentally ingested, can also be absorbed through the skin.

近来，越来越多的数据表明：三手烟--烟民"吞云吐雾"后残留在地毯、家具、窗帘以及衣服等表面的尼古丁和其它有毒化学物--也会带来危害。尽管有人会戏谑三手烟带来的潜在影响，但专家尤为担心最靠近这些物体表面的人：年幼的孩子，包括婴儿和蹒跚学步的幼儿，他们经常在父母身旁依偎着、在地板上爬着、经常将手指伸进嘴里。尼古丁等香烟残留物停留在物体表面的时间或达数周、数月或好几年，这些残留物除了被意外吸入外，还会被人们的皮肤吸收。

Taken together, experts say environmental exposures pose a serious risk for all but especially for young children in households where parents smoke. And there's also concern about tobacco smoke exposure in places where smoking has occurred - like a residence a family just moved into - and when caretakers regularly encounter it outside the home, like at a smoky workplace, and bring it home with them on their clothes. Experts say no one, young or old, is immune to the dangers of passive exposure to tobacco smoke, and that parents should be especially careful around babies and toddlers.

鉴于此，专家表示，如果家里的父母吸烟，那这种环境会对所有人尤其是幼儿带来严重风险。同时有人担心，如若某个地方之前有人吸烟（一家人刚搬进的房子）或是幼儿看护经常在屋外碰到吸烟者（比如烟雾缭绕的工作场所），那回家时，他们的衣服上就会沾染烟草。专家表示，无论是年轻人还是老年人都会受到被动接触烟草的危害，而家长更应关心婴儿和幼儿的被动接触。

Dr. Harold Farber, a pediatric pulmonologist at Texas Children's Hospital, says he can sometimes smell tobacco smoke coming off parents' clothes, though certainly they haven't been smoking in the exam room. "I can feel the nose and eye irritation⁵ just from the smoke that's coming off of their clothes - and I'm halfway⁶ across the room," says Farber, also an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "One can only imagine what's happening to a baby being held right next to them."

德克萨斯儿童医院的儿科肺病专家哈罗德·法伯医生说，虽然他确定家长没有在检查室吸烟，但他有时候还是能闻到家长衣服上的烟草味道。"他们衣服上的烟草会让我的鼻子和眼睛受到刺激--而我离他们有一半屋子之远，"法伯说道，他还是贝尔医学院儿科学的副教授。"可想而知，离他们那么近的儿童又正在遭受着什么。"