title: Estimation of urinary cotinine cut-off points distinguishing non-smokers, passive and active smokers.
abstract: An objective assessment of exposure to tobacco smoke may be accomplished by means of examining particular biomarkers in body fluids. The most common biomarker of tobacco smoke exposure is urinary, or serum, cotinine. In order to distinguish non-smokers from passive smokers and passive smokers from active smokers, it is necessary to estimate cotinine cut-off points. The objective of this article was to apply statistical distribution of urinary cotinine concentration to estimate cut-off points distinguishing the three above-mentioned groups. The examined group consisted of 327 volunteers (187 women and 140 men) who were ethnically homogenous inhabitants of the same urban agglomeration (Sosnowiec, Poland). The values which enabled differentiation of the examined population into groups and subgroups were as follows: 50 microg l(-1) (differentiation of non-smokers from passive smokers), 170 microg l(-1) (to divide the group of passive smokers into two subgroups: minimally and highly exposed to environmental tobacco smoke), 550 microg l(-1) (differentiation of passive smokers from active smokers), and 2100 microg l(-1) (to divide group of active smokers into two subgroups: minimally and highly exposed to tobacco smoke). The results suggest that statistical distribution of urinary cotinine concentration is useful for estimating urinary cotinine cut-off points and for assessing the smoking status of persons exposed to tobacco smoke.
authors: Department of General and Analytical Chemistry, Medical University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Jagiellonska, Poland. wzdanch@slam.katowice.pl
authors: Wioleta
authors: W
authors: Zielińska-Danch
authors: Władysław
authors: W
authors: Wardas
authors: Andrzej
authors: A
authors: Sobczak
authors: Izabela
authors: I
authors: Szołtysek-Bołdys
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine*; D003367:Cotinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000652:urine*; D016008:Statistical Distributions; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D003367:Cotinine