Berkeley Lab confirms thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013
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Contact: Julie Chao
jhchao@lbl.gov
510-486-6491
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A study led by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found for the first time that thirdhand smokethe noxious residue that clings to virtually all surfaces long after the secondhand smoke from a cigarette has cleared outcauses significant genetic damage in human cells.

Furthermore, the study also found that chronic exposure is worse than acute exposure, with the chemical compounds in samples exposed to chronic thirdhand smoke existing in higher concentrations and causing more DNA damage than samples exposed to acute thirdhand smoke, suggesting that the residue becomes more harmful over time.

"This is the very first study to find that thirdhand smoke is mutagenic," said Lara Gundel, a Berkeley Lab scientist and co-author of the study. "Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, some of the chemical compounds in thirdhand smoke, are among the most potent carcinogens there are. They stay on surfaces, and when those surfaces are clothing or carpets, the danger to children is especially serious."

Their paper, "Thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage in human cells," was published in the journal Mutagenesis. The lead investigator was Bo Hang, a biochemist in the Life Sciences Division of Berkeley Lab; he worked with an interdisciplinary group, including chemists from Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies DivisionGundel, Hugo Destaillats and Mohamad Sleimanas well as scientists from UC San Francisco, UCLA Medical Center and the University of Texas.

The researchers used two common in vitro assays, the Comet assay and the long amplicon-qPCR assay, to test for genotoxicity and found that thirdhand smoke can cause both DNA strand breaks and oxidative DNA damage, which can lead to gene mutation. Genotoxicity is associated with the development of diseases and is a critical mechanism responsible for many types of cancer caused by smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

"Until this study, the toxicity of thirdhand smoke has not been well understood," Hang said. "Thirdhand smoke has a smaller quantity of chemicals than secondhand smoke, so it's good to have experimental evidence to confirm its genotoxicity."

It is the first major study of disease-related mechanisms to come out of the California Consortium on the Health Effects of Thirdhand Smoke, which was established two years ago largely as a result of work published in 2010 by Gundel, Destaillats, Sleiman and others. The Consortium is funded by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which is managed by the University of California and funded by state cigarette taxes.

The 2010 studies from Berkeley Lab found that residual nicotine can react with ozone and nitrous acidboth common indoor air pollutantsto form hazardous agents. When nicotine in thirdhand smoke reacts with nitrous acid it undergoes a chemical transformation and forms carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines, such as NNA, NNK and NNN. Nicotine can react with ozone to form ultrafine particles, which can carry harmful chemicals and pass through human tissue. Humans can be exposed to thirdhand smoke through inhalation, ingestion or skin contact.

Thirdhand smoke is particularly insidious because it is extremely difficult to eradicate. Studies have found that it can still be detected in dust and surfaces of apartments more than two months after smokers moved out. Common cleaning methods such as vacuuming, wiping and ventilation have not proven effective in lowering nicotine contamination. "You can do some things to reduce the odors, but it's very difficult to really clean it completely," said Destaillats. "The best solution is to substitute materials, such as change the carpet, repaint."

Now the new study suggests thirdhand smoke could become more harmful over time. To generate the samples, the researchers put paper strips in smoking chambers. The acute samples, generated at Berkeley Lab, were exposed to five cigarettes smoked in about 20 minutes, and the chronic samples, generated at UCSF, were exposed to cigarette smoke for 258 hours over 196 days. During that time, the chamber was also ventilated for about 35 hours.

The researchers found that the concentrations of more than half of the compounds studied were higher in the chronic samples than in the acute. They also found higher levels of DNA damage caused by the chronic samples. "The cumulative effect of thirdhand smoke is quite significant," Gundel said. "The findings suggest the materials could be getting more toxic with time."

Hang and coworkers exposed the human cells by first extracting the compounds from the paper with a culture medium then using the medium to culture the human cells for 24 hours. The concentrations of the compounds were carefully measured. "They are close to real-life concentrations, and in fact are on the lower side of what someone might be exposed to," Hang said.

Next Hang is pursuing further understanding of the chemistry of the NNA reaction with DNA bases. NNA is a tobacco-specific nitrosamine that is not found in freshly emitted secondhand smoke. "It looks like it's a very important component of thirdhand smoke, and it is much less studied than NNK and NNN in terms of its mutagenic potential," he said.

The researchers conclude in their paper: "Ultimately, knowledge of the mechanisms by which thirdhand smoke exposure increases the chance of disease development in exposed individuals should lead to new strategies for prevention."

###

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Julie Chao
jhchao@lbl.gov
510-486-6491
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A study led by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found for the first time that thirdhand smokethe noxious residue that clings to virtually all surfaces long after the secondhand smoke from a cigarette has cleared outcauses significant genetic damage in human cells.

Furthermore, the study also found that chronic exposure is worse than acute exposure, with the chemical compounds in samples exposed to chronic thirdhand smoke existing in higher concentrations and causing more DNA damage than samples exposed to acute thirdhand smoke, suggesting that the residue becomes more harmful over time.

"This is the very first study to find that thirdhand smoke is mutagenic," said Lara Gundel, a Berkeley Lab scientist and co-author of the study. "Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, some of the chemical compounds in thirdhand smoke, are among the most potent carcinogens there are. They stay on surfaces, and when those surfaces are clothing or carpets, the danger to children is especially serious."

Their paper, "Thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage in human cells," was published in the journal Mutagenesis. The lead investigator was Bo Hang, a biochemist in the Life Sciences Division of Berkeley Lab; he worked with an interdisciplinary group, including chemists from Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies DivisionGundel, Hugo Destaillats and Mohamad Sleimanas well as scientists from UC San Francisco, UCLA Medical Center and the University of Texas.

The researchers used two common in vitro assays, the Comet assay and the long amplicon-qPCR assay, to test for genotoxicity and found that thirdhand smoke can cause both DNA strand breaks and oxidative DNA damage, which can lead to gene mutation. Genotoxicity is associated with the development of diseases and is a critical mechanism responsible for many types of cancer caused by smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

"Until this study, the toxicity of thirdhand smoke has not been well understood," Hang said. "Thirdhand smoke has a smaller quantity of chemicals than secondhand smoke, so it's good to have experimental evidence to confirm its genotoxicity."

It is the first major study of disease-related mechanisms to come out of the California Consortium on the Health Effects of Thirdhand Smoke, which was established two years ago largely as a result of work published in 2010 by Gundel, Destaillats, Sleiman and others. The Consortium is funded by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which is managed by the University of California and funded by state cigarette taxes.

The 2010 studies from Berkeley Lab found that residual nicotine can react with ozone and nitrous acidboth common indoor air pollutantsto form hazardous agents. When nicotine in thirdhand smoke reacts with nitrous acid it undergoes a chemical transformation and forms carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines, such as NNA, NNK and NNN. Nicotine can react with ozone to form ultrafine particles, which can carry harmful chemicals and pass through human tissue. Humans can be exposed to thirdhand smoke through inhalation, ingestion or skin contact.

Thirdhand smoke is particularly insidious because it is extremely difficult to eradicate. Studies have found that it can still be detected in dust and surfaces of apartments more than two months after smokers moved out. Common cleaning methods such as vacuuming, wiping and ventilation have not proven effective in lowering nicotine contamination. "You can do some things to reduce the odors, but it's very difficult to really clean it completely," said Destaillats. "The best solution is to substitute materials, such as change the carpet, repaint."

Now the new study suggests thirdhand smoke could become more harmful over time. To generate the samples, the researchers put paper strips in smoking chambers. The acute samples, generated at Berkeley Lab, were exposed to five cigarettes smoked in about 20 minutes, and the chronic samples, generated at UCSF, were exposed to cigarette smoke for 258 hours over 196 days. During that time, the chamber was also ventilated for about 35 hours.

The researchers found that the concentrations of more than half of the compounds studied were higher in the chronic samples than in the acute. They also found higher levels of DNA damage caused by the chronic samples. "The cumulative effect of thirdhand smoke is quite significant," Gundel said. "The findings suggest the materials could be getting more toxic with time."

Hang and coworkers exposed the human cells by first extracting the compounds from the paper with a culture medium then using the medium to culture the human cells for 24 hours. The concentrations of the compounds were carefully measured. "They are close to real-life concentrations, and in fact are on the lower side of what someone might be exposed to," Hang said.

Next Hang is pursuing further understanding of the chemistry of the NNA reaction with DNA bases. NNA is a tobacco-specific nitrosamine that is not found in freshly emitted secondhand smoke. "It looks like it's a very important component of thirdhand smoke, and it is much less studied than NNK and NNN in terms of its mutagenic potential," he said.

The researchers conclude in their paper: "Ultimately, knowledge of the mechanisms by which thirdhand smoke exposure increases the chance of disease development in exposed individuals should lead to new strategies for prevention."

###

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/dbnl-blc062013.php

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Protesters out again in Brazilian cities

SAO PAULO (AP) -- Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices.

In one of several protests, about 200 people blocked the Anchieta Highway that links Sao Paulo, the country's biggest city, and the port of Santos before heading to the industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo's outskirts. Another group of protesters later obstructed the highway again.

In the northeastern city of Fortaleza, some 15,000 protesters clashed with police trying to prevent them from reaching the Castelao stadium where Brazil were to play Mexico in the Confederations Cup soccer tournament on Wednesday.

Riot police used gas bombs and pepper spray to keep protesters from advancing past a barrier some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) away from venue. A police car was burned by the demonstrators, who also threw rocks and other objects at the officers. The protest disrupted fans' efforts to access the stadium for Brazil's second match at the World Cup warm-up tournament.

"We are against a government which spends billions in stadiums while people are suffering across the country," said Natalia Querino, a 22-year-old student participating in the protest. "We want better education, more security and a better health system."

Earlier, hundreds of protesters cut off the main access road to the stadium, and police responded by diverting traffic away from the road. Official vehicles of tournament organizers FIFA were among those struggling to reach the stadium.

In the city of Belo Horizonte some 2,000 protesters took to the streets in a peaceful demonstration, while others were reported to be gathering in Niteroi, across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro.

The actions followed another night of mass marches around Brazil and nearly a week of unrest that has shocked the country's leaders ahead of a papal visit next month and next year's World Cup soccer tournament.

Beginning as protests against bus fare hikes, the demonstrations have quickly ballooned to include broad middle-class outrage over the failure of governments to provide basic services and ensure public safety, even as the country's economy modernizes and tax rates remain some of the highest in the world.

Protest organizers, who have widely employed social media, said new mass demonstrations will be held in Sao Paulo and Rio on Thursday. The Rio action promises the most volatility, with protesters planning to march to Maracana stadium where Spain and Tahiti will meet in a Confederations Cup match. Police have said they will not allow protesters to interrupt the game.

Fortaleza, Rio, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Brasilia have received soldiers from Brazil's elite National Force to bolster security during tournament games.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter urged protesters Wednesday to stop linking their anger against the government to the Confederations Cup. The cost of building stadiums for the FIFA tournaments has been a regular complaint at marches.

In an interview with Brazil's Globo TV network broadcast, Blatter said he could "understand that people are not happy, but they should not use football to make their demands heard."

Blatter added: "We did not impose the World Cup on Brazil."

On Tuesday night, tens of thousands of Brazilians flooded central Sao Paulo, with the protest following the rhythm of mobilizations that drew some 240,000 people across Brazil the previous night. Though mostly peaceful, small bands of radicals split off in Sao Paulo to fight with police.

Fernando Grella Vieira, head of the Sao Paulo state public safety department, said 63 people were detained during Tuesday's protests. He told the Globo TV network on Wednesday that police would guarantee the right to demonstrate but would "repress all forms of vandalism."

Local governments in at least four cities have responded to the unrest by agreeing to reverse bus and subway fare hikes, and Sao Paulo's fare hike could also be rolled back. It's not clear that will calm the country, though, with the protests already expanding to take on a wide range of other issues.

Beyond complaints about transit fares, protesters haven't produced any concrete demands even as they've waved signs, gone on social media and chanted their anger at the entire governing system. A common cry at the rallies: "No parties!"

"What I hope comes from these protests is that the governing class comes to understand that we're the ones in charge, not them, and the politicians must learn to respect us," said Yasmine Gomes, a 22-year-old squeezed into the plaza in central Sao Paulo where Tuesday night's protest began.

President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, has hailed the protests for raising questions and strengthening Brazil's democracy. "Brazil today woke up stronger," she said in a statement Tuesday.

Yet Rousseff offered no actions that her government might take to address complaints.

The protests have raised troubling questions about the country's ability to provide security ahead of it playing host to some of the world's biggest events, including the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

And Brazil's media has scrambled to cover the sprawling protests, while at times sparking the ire of protesters, with the powerful Globo TV network in particular drawing derision.

Whenever what appears to be a Globo helicopter swoops over a demonstration, protesters hiss, raise their fists and chant slogans against what they say was the network's failure to widely show images of a violent police crackdown on protesters last week in Sao Paulo.

Such mass protests are rare in this 190 million-person country, with demonstrations generally attracting small numbers of politicized participants.

Many now protesting in Brazil's streets hail from the country's growing middle class, which government figures show has ballooned by some 40 million people over the past decade amid a commodities-driven economic boom.

The protesters say they've lost patience with endemic problems such as government corruption and inefficiency. They're also slamming Brazil's government for spending billions of dollars to host the World Cup and Olympics while leaving other needs unmet.

A November government report raised to $13.3 billion the projected cost of stadiums, airport renovations and other projects for the World Cup. City, state and other local governments are spending more than $12 billion on projects for the Olympics in Rio.

Attorney Agatha Rossi de Paula, who attended Tuesday's protest in Sao Paulo along with her mother, called Brazil's fiscal priorities "an embarrassment."

"We just want what we paid in taxes back, through health care, education and transportation," said the 34-year-old. "We want the police to protect us, to help the people on the streets who have ended up with no job and no money."

So far, the mass gatherings have shown no evidence of any central leadership, although they've been tied to smaller activist organizations such as one asking for lower transit fares. Groups of Brazilians have also staged small protests in other countries, including Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Denmark.

A cyber-attack knocked the government's official World Cup site offline Tuesday, and the Twitter feed for Brazil's Anonymous hackers group posted links to a host of other government websites whose content had been replaced by a screen calling on citizens to come out to the streets.

___

AP writers Jenny Barchfield and Rob Harris in Rio de Janeiro, Marco Sibaja in Brasilia, Tales Azzoni in Fortaleza and Jill Langlois in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-again-brazilian-cities-200427532.html

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Active from AT&T hands-on (video)

We just went hands-on for the first time with Samsung's Galaxy S4 Active a scant few hours ago, and here we are taking yet another look at it this afternoon in an AT&T variant that showed up at a New York City tech event. The specs and bullet points are identical to the model we checked out earlier today: a 5-inch (TFT LCD) 1080p display (443 ppi), a 1.9GHz quad-core processor, LTE radios and Android 4.2.2, an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash out back, and up to two-megapixel stills in front. This model, however, is the one US AT&T customers will get their hands-on tomorrow for $200 (with two-year contract, of course). How does it fare? Well, identically to the model we checked out earlier today. But hey, have a look at the model you'll actually get in your hands stateside come tomorrow!

Update: We've updated the post with a video just below the break!

Edgar Alvarez and Daniel Orren contributed to this report.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (AT&T, hands-on)

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/20/samsung-galaxy-s4-active-att/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Microsoft Backs Off Restrictive Xbox One Policies - Including Always Online, Used Game Blocks, and Region Locks

Microsoft Backs Off Restrictive Xbox One Policies Including Always Online, Used Game Blocks, and Region Locks Microsoft appears to have backed away from their rather absurd and draconian DRM policies for their upcoming Xbox One console. According to a blog post by the company, the company will be backing away from the console's previous "online check in every 24 hours" requirement, as well as lifting many of the restrictions on used games. Microsoft's also backing off of the restrictions on game rentals, something that would have seriously harmed companies like Gamefly.com. Even region locks will be going away after consumer complaints. According to Microsoft's President of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick, the following changes are going to be made after receiving "candid feedback": ?An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games ? After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360. ?Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today ? There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360. The move was absolutely essentially from Microsoft's standpoint, given the huge early PR boon it was providing Sony's PS4. Provided the shifts don't come with unwanted caveats, it's refreshing to see Microsoft isn't entirely tone deaf.

Re: Gee... I wonder why. Seems they're still going to charge $100 more for inferior hardware, though. Edit: Kinect still required to be present and turned on? Screw that. -- If you can't open it, you don't own it. Re: Gee... I wonder why. said by Cabal: Seems they're still going to charge $100 more for inferior hardware, though. Edit: Kinect still required to be present and turned on? Screw that. And will still force you to subscribe to XBox Live just to view Netflix and other services. Sony doesn't require that. They never learn. Offend gamers, and they will leave overnight. All of them. It's even worse if you do something that is a rip-off or interferes with their ability to use their systems and games. It was a painful lesson... ...but thank God they learned it. I was hoping they would, but didn't hold out much hope. Now I can get an XBox One! Eventually. I still don't like the Kinect always having to be plugged and upping the price $100 bucks so I'll get one at some point in the future. Still. A consumer base won an argument with the mighty and arrogant Microsoft. Holy shitballs. Their pre-orders must have really been in the toilet. -- The world was movin' she was right there with it and she was Re: It was a painful lesson... said by bionicRod: ... I still don't like the Kinect always having to be plugged I have a Kinect with my current 360. I found a nice little box that I filled with rags that fits over the Kinect unit on my mantle. Its been painted the same color as the wall, so you cant really tell its there unless you look carefully. When the Xbox is on, it cant see or hear a thing that goes on in the room. -- I've discovered that I often visit the state of confusion, and I know my way around pretty well. Re: It was a painful lesson... said by Warmachine99:said by bionicRod: ... I still don't like the Kinect always having to be plugged I have a Kinect with my current 360. I found a nice little box that I filled with rags that fits over the Kinect unit on my mantle. Its been painted the same color as the wall, so you cant really tell its there unless you look carefully. When the Xbox is on, it cant see or hear a thing that goes on in the room. I didn't mean I don't want one because of privacy concerns. I just don't want one, and it drives up the price of the console. -- The world was movin' she was right there with it and she was And according to Kotaku... ...the changes come from a day one patch. Meaning to download the patch, you have to have internet. Dunno how this will work with people importing the consoles either. Ok, but what about Kinect? and BC? It's sad that some people are effectively applauding a restoration of rights that should have never been in question to begin with. My next two questions on the matter would relate to the title. I don't necessarily want Kinect feeding videos of me playing all the damn time, and considering the library I'd built up for the 360 (and download titles), it definitely looks and feels stupid that they've yet to provide any kind of solution. If they want to justify the extra $100 for the Xbox One immediately, they should implement SOMEthing to enable BC for at least 360, if not Original Xbox... which given the architecture, the X1 should be binary-compatible with. -- Because, f*ck Sony Reviews: ?Shaw Re: Just wait said by zefie: if it can be patched out, it can be patched back in. after your return policy is up. it could, but basically every game was going to come up a code to enter to digitally license it to the console. I don't think they can exactly enable it in the future. At least it wouldn't impact previous games. With both consoles now shying away from this, we're probably ok until the next gen. That being said, at least this way we have a choice. You want to be able to download it wherever your gamertage is at, but if off xbox live and have the digitial copy. If you want a physical copy you can sell or trade to a friend, get a physical copy. I was going to buy a ps4, so I'm unsure. It'll probably come down to which console puts out a game I want to play first. me1212 join:2008-11-20 Pleasant Hill, MO Too little too late. MS has shown its true colors most smart gamers will wont give MS a penny of their money. It's like they're a Bond villain, but at the last second they realized that they still need Bond on the chessboard to manipulate him, but they've already strapped him to the table and there's a laser about to cut him up the middle, and now they're like "Oh, we're sorry, see look, we've stopped the laser now. It's cool. You want some caviar?" Then next gen I expect them to try again. Plus kotaku is saying you need a day 1 patch to fix it, if it can be patched it can be un-patched, and you still HAVE to connect once to get it.

Source: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Microsoft-Backs-Off-Restrictive-Xbox-One-Policies-124740

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