Questionnaire and hair measurement of exposure to tobacco smoke

Abstract

To assess the relation between nicotine and cotinine levels in hair and reported exposure to environmental tobacco smoke ( ETS ) , hair samples from 112 children ( aged 3 months to 10 years ) and 76 of their mothers were analyzed and information on the smoking habits of household adults in the preceding 6 months recorded. It was found that the levels of nicotine in children's hair were related to the number of smokers in the house, and increased with the total number of cigarettes smoked by all household adults ( P < 0.0001 ) . In a multiple regression analysis, mother's smoking was much more a contributor to children's nicotine levels than smoking by the father or other household adults. Cotinine levels were less strongly associated with reported ETS exposure than nicotine. There was a strong correlation between nicotine hair levels in children and mothers ( r s = 0.7, P < 0.0001 ) . However, nicotine levels in the hair of active smokers were not correlated with the reported number of cigarettes they smoked per day. In this population, there was a consistent relation between exposure to ETS ( assessed by questionnaire ) and dose ( as measured by nicotine in hair ) . We conclude that hair nicotine levels rather than hair cotinine levels provide an informative and objective measure of ETS exposure. The number of cigarettes smoked by active smokers may not be an accurate measure of the total nicotine levels in their bodies.

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Validity of Self-Report in Low-Income Women and Children in India

“…2,10,[18][19][20] Hair-nicotine concentrations among the children in this study were higher than those in other studies reporting hair-nicotine concentrations in young children. The median level of hair nicotine found in children in this present study (1.7 ng/mg; IQR: 0.3-4.2) is higher than was found by Al-Delaimy et al 21 23 Because all of the child participants in this present study were <5 years of age, it is unlikely that personal tobacco use, either smoked or smokeless, significantly contributed to hair nicotine concentrations. However, the case may be that thirdhand tobacco smoke, or airborne nicotine that has settled and been ingested orally through hand-to-mouth behavior in young children or through dermal absorption, may contribute to exposure.…”

Method validation for measurement of hair nicotine level in nonsmokers

“…Figure 5 suggests a positive association between hair nicotine concentrations and the number of cigarettes smoked in a household. Other studies have reported a similar concentration range and exposure-response relationships of hair nicotine concentration of children with the number of cigarette smoked per day by other household members (Al-Delaimy et al, 2000;Sorensen et al, 2007). Al-Delaimy et al (2000) reported that median hair nicotine concentrations from children who were exposed to SHS from 0 (n = 24), 1-9 (n = 23), 10-19 (n = 31) and 20 or more (n = 34) cigarettes smoked per day by household adults were 0.001, 0.1, 0.22 and 2.4 ng/mg, respectively (estimated from Fig.…”

“…Evaluating the magnitude of SHS exposure and identifying its sources are fundamental steps needed to reduce exposure and to target prevention strategies. SHS exposure is assessed by diverse methods, including questionnaires (Al-Delaimy et al, 2000;Delfino et al, 1993;Gaffney et al, 2003;Klepeis, 1999), air nicotine monitoring (Hammond and Leaderer, 1987;Leaderer, 1990;Navas-Acien et al, 2006;Repace et al, 2006;Wipfli et al, 2008), and biomonitoring of nicotine or cotinine in such biofluids as serum, urine or saliva (Benowitz, 1999;Coultas et al, 1987;Seccareccia et al, 2003;Pirkle et al, 2006). The most commonly used biomarker for SHS exposure is nicotine or its metabolite, cotinine, in human body fluids such as urine, saliva and serum (Pichini et al, 2000;Simoni et al, 2006;Thaqi et al, 2005).…”

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Hair Nicotine in Children: Age-Dependent Differences

“…This measure provides a long-term (months) evaluation of smoke exposure since the nicotine in the bloodstream of hair follicle capillaries is incorporated in the growing hair shaft ( Al-Delaimy, 2002 ;Al-Delaimy, Crane, & Woodward, 2000 ). The half-life of nicotine in body fl uids is approximately 2 -3 h r and that of cotinine (a major nicotine metabolite) is 1 -2 days ( Benowitz, 1996 ).…”