Serum cotinine as a measure of tobacco smoke exposure in children
E. N. Pattishall, G. L. Strope, R. A. Etzel, R. W. Helms, N. J. Haley and F. W. Denny
To document passive smoke exposure, we measured concentrations of serum
cotinine, a major metabolite of nicotine, in 38 young children and compared
the results with the smoking histories of home residents. Cotinine was
detected in 26 children (68%), of which ten had no household exposure
according to a questionnaire. The serum cotinine concentration was
significantly elevated in blacks compared with whites after controlling for
the number of smokers in the home. After stratifying by race, there was a
significant direct correlation between the serum cotinine concentration and
the number of smokers in the home, the amount smoked by the mother, and the
amount smoked by others in the home. We conclude that the serum cotinine
concentration is a useful indicator of the actual exposure of young
children to tobacco smoke and that unexplained racial differences in
cotinine levels exist.
