Nicotine levels higher in children exposed to secondhand smoke in the home
New research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, supports the World Health Initiative's efforts for a home smoking ban, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Specifically, hair nicotine concentrations were higher in children exposed to secondhand smoke at home, and the younger the children, the higher the concentration under the same level of secondhand smoke exposure at home.
"This study provides adequate evidence to support home smoking bans, particularly in homes with small children," said Sungroul Kim, Ph.D., a research associate at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Kim and colleagues used hair nicotine concentrations as a biomarker of secondhand smoke exposure, because it is less affected by day-to-day exposure variation compared to the presence of nicotine in other body fluid samples.
The study included 1,284 children from 31 countries in Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Among the houses with high nicotine concentrations in the indoor air (more than 10 mg/m3 compared with less than 0.01 mg/m3), women had three times the level of hair nicotine concentrations; children had a 6.8-fold increase in hair nicotine concentrations.
Furthermore, children who were younger than 6 years old had 12 percent higher levels of nicotine concentration than those who were older. Those who spent more than 19 hours a day at home had 15 percent higher levels of nicotine concentration in their hair than those who spent less than 19 hours a day at home after adjusting other explanatory variables.
"Clearly the younger children are the most at risk; this is a call to action on a global level," said Kim.
These results were published as part of a special focus on tobacco in the December issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Source: American Association for Cancer Research
Articles on the same topic
- Racial disparity in lung cancer rates narrowed in young adults due to larger decrease in smokingThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:39:04 UTC
- Mexican-American youths' risk of experimenting with cigarettes depends on susceptibilityThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:39:01 UTC
- Acculturation affects smoking cessation success among LatinosThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:38:58 UTC
- Watching movies featuring characters who smoke negatively influences Mexican-American teensThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:38:54 UTC
- Repeat negative CT scan for lung cancer does not encourage ex-smokers to resume the habitThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:38:51 UTC
- Acculturation influences smoking cessation by Latino menThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:38:47 UTC
- Movies promote smoking among Mexican-American adolescentsThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:38:44 UTC
- Susceptibility predicts smoking risk among Mexican-American youthThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:38:43 UTC
Other sources
- Racial disparity in lung cancer rates narrowed in young adults due to larger decrease in smokingfrom PhysorgThu, 3 Dec 2009, 19:22:12 UTC
- Nicotine Levels Higher in Children Exposed to Secondhand Smoke in the Homefrom PhysorgThu, 3 Dec 2009, 18:14:38 UTC
- Movies promote smoking among Mexican-American adolescentsfrom Science DailyThu, 3 Dec 2009, 15:07:46 UTC
- Susceptibility predicts smoking risk among Mexican-American youthfrom Science DailyThu, 3 Dec 2009, 15:07:44 UTC
- Watching movies featuring characters who smoke negatively influences Mexican-American teensfrom Science BlogThu, 3 Dec 2009, 13:14:24 UTC
- Susceptibility predicts smoking risk among Mexican-American youthfrom PhysorgThu, 3 Dec 2009, 11:42:25 UTC
- Susceptibility predicts smoking risk among Mexican-American youthfrom Science BlogThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:35:26 UTC
- Movies promote smoking among Mexican-American adolescentsfrom Science BlogThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:35:23 UTC
- Acculturation influences smoking cessation by Latino menfrom Science BlogThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:35:20 UTC
- Repeat negative CT scan for lung cancer does not encourage ex-smokers to resume the habitfrom Science BlogThu, 3 Dec 2009, 7:35:17 UTC