title: Relation of urinary cotinine concentrations to cigarette smoking and to exposure to other people's smoke.
abstract: The relation of urinary cotinine measurements to tobacco consumption in smokers and to exposure to other people's smoke in non-smokers was studied in 49 smokers and 184 reported non-smokers attending a health screening centre. The median urinary cotinine concentration was 1623 ng/ml in the smokers and 6.1 ng/ml in the non-smokers. In smokers the average urinary cotinine concentration increased with reported habitual cigarette consumption; in non-smokers it increased with the reported total seven day duration of exposure to other people's tobacco smoke. Cotinine concentrations were approximately three times higher in non-smokers living with a spouse or partner who was a smoker than in those living with a non-smoker; their reported duration of exposure to tobacco smoke was also three times higher. Non-smoking subjects who were exposed to any tobacco smoke and who lived with a smoker reported 70% of their exposure to be at home (56% for men and 86% for women); the men reported more exposure at work than non-smoking men who lived with a non-smoker. This study confirms the relation of urinary cotinine to stated tobacco smoke exposure in both smokers and non-smokers and further validates the use of information on the smoking habits of the spouse or partner as a measure of tobacco smoke exposure in epidemiological studies of non-smokers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nanchahal
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Wald
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003367:Cotinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011760:Pyrrolidinones / Q000652:urine*; D012907:Smoking / Q000652:urine*; D013997:Time Factors; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D011760:Pyrrolidinones; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D003367:Cotinine