Racial Differences in Hair Nicotine Concentrations Among Smokers

Abstract

This study demonstrates that Black smokers have substantially higher hair nicotine levels than White smokers, after controlling for cigarettes smoked per day and other exposure sources. Time to first cigarette, cigarettes smoked per day, and use of hair treatments other than coloring were also associated with hair nicotine concentrations among smokers.

Hair nicotine concentration measurement in cats and its relationship to owner‐reported environmental tobacco smoke exposure

“…Nicotine is then deposited into the hair shaft through the hair bulb blood supply (Al‐Delaimy , Apelberg et al . ). When measuring hair nicotine concentration (HNC), ultrasonic washing of hair (sonification) in methanol removes all nicotine in the hair (Bawazeer et al .…”

Time to First Cigarette and 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanol (NNAL) Levels in Adult Smokers; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007–2010

“…Smokers who consume cigarettes immediately after waking have higher blood cotinine levels than smokers who refrain from smoking a half hour or more after waking (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). The levels of cotinine are about twice as high in smokers who smoke within 5 minutes after waking than in smokers who waited for an hour or more after adjusting for the number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD).…”

Hair and nail nicotine levels of mothers and their infants as valid biomarkers of exposure to intrauterine tobacco smoke

“…We therefore speculate that our results may reflect the fact that the deposition of nicotine in the nails is less affected by acute and short-term environmental changes applied to the human body compared to hair, which can be altered or influenced by race/ethnicity, type of hair, hair color, or treatments done to the hair (bleaching, straightening, permanent, etc.) 31 . Our findings that newborn nail nicotine levels were higher than newborn hair nicotine levels could represent the susceptibility of nails to nicotine deposition prenatally, as the formation of nail beds occur earlier in the fetus (at around 8–10 weeks’ gestation), which do not undergo shedding in-utero compared to hair, and are shed into the amniotic fluid prior to delivery 32 .…”