New York, Apr 9 (IANS): If you are a smoker, chances are that your children may be exposed to significant levels of nicotine on their hands just by coming into contact with items or surfaces contaminated with tobacco smoke residues, researchers have found.

The findings showed that the children's hands hold high levels of nicotine even when parents are not smoking around them and sheds new light on dangers of third-hand smoke.

"Parents may think that not smoking around their child is enough, but this is not the case. These findings emphasise that the only safe way to protect children from smoke exposure is to quit smoking and ban smoking at home," said Melinda Mahabee-Gittens from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital in the US.

Previous studies have shown persistent residue from second-hand smoke accumulates in dust, on home surfaces, on the clothes worn by smokers and on different household objects like toys, etc.

For the study, published in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control, the team involved 25 children.

Researchers found that the presence of significant nicotine on the hands of children was associated with equally significant levels of the harmful tobacco metabolite cotinine in their saliva.

Exposure to these contaminants causes health problems such as respiratory and ear infections, more frequent and severe asthma attacks, and other ailments in infants and children, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.