title: Carbon monoxide in breath in relation to smoking and carboxyhaemoglobin levels.
abstract: Carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) levels were studied in 11 249 men. The distribution among the 2613 men who smoked cigarettes was well separated from that in 6641 non-smokers (including ex-smokers). The distribution for 2005 cigar and pipe smokers was intermediate, though some of the highest COHb levels occurred in cigar smokers. Using a COHb cut-off level of 2%, 81% of cigarette smokers, 35% of cigar and pipe smokers, and 1.0% of non-smokers had raised COHb levels. In a subsidiary experiment alveolar air samples were collected from 162 smokers and 25 non-smokers using a simple breath sampling technique. Carbon monoxide concentrations in alveolar breath were highly correlated with COHb levels (r = 0.97) indicating that COHb levels can be estimated reliably by measuring the concentration of carbon monoxide in breath. Alveolar carbon monoxide measurement is thus a simple method of estimating whether a person is likely to be a smoker.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis*; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli; D012119:Respiration; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin