title: An epidemiologic study comparing fetal exposure to tobacco smoke in three Southeast Asian countries.
abstract: The high prevalence of smoking in Southeast Asia (SEA) means pregnant women face exposure to tobacco smoke that may affect the health of their fetus. This study determined fetal exposure to tobacco smoke by meconium analysis for cotinine in 3 locations in SEA: Bulacan Province, Philippines (N=316), Bangkok, Thailand (N=106) and Singapore City (N=61). Maternal exposure to tobacco smoke was 71.1% (1.3% active; 69.8% passive) in Bulacan, 57.5% (0.9% active; 58.6% passive) in Bangkok and 54.1% (11.5% active; 42.0% passive) in Singapore. Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke (by meconium analysis) was 1.3% (Bulacan), 4.7% (Bangkok) and 13.1% (Singapore); however, a large proportion of infants who tested positive for cotinine (65%) were born to mothers who gave no history of either active or passive exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke is a major health problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States. eostrea@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: Enrique M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ostrea
authors.forename: Esterlita
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villanueva-Uy
authors.forename: Sopapan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ngerncham
authors.forename: Luephorn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Punnakanta
authors.forename: Melissa J P
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Batilando
authors.forename: Pratibha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pensler
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corrion
authors.forename: Erwin F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003367:Cotinine / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008470:Meconium / Q000737:chemistry*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000378:metabolism; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D009538:Nicotine; D003367:Cotinine