Environmental tobacco smoke at home and in public places prior to smoking ban enforcement: assessment by hair analysis in a population of young adult students

This study investigated determinants of ETS in a population of young adult students, considered at higher risk of exposure due to their specific lifestyle. This cross-sectional study involved 90 students aged 20 ±1.7years, from the University of Luxembourg, prior to the smoking ban enforcement in public places in the country. Participants reported their tobacco consumption and exposure to ETS at home and/or in public places, and provided a hair sample analyzed for nicotine and cotinine. Nicotine and cotini ne were significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers’ hair in general (median: 2.6 vs 0.9ng/mg and 87.1 vs 22.5pg/mg respectively). However, non-smokers exposed to ETS at home and in public places had comparable concentrations to smokers (nic=2.2ng/mg; cot=56.2pg/mg), whereas unexposed non- smokers presented significantly lower values (nic=0.4ng/mg, cot=8.5pg/mg). Non-smokers exposed to ETS only at home presented higher values than non-smokers only exposed in public places (nic: 1.3 vs 0.8ng/mg, cot: 70.4 vs 15.0pg/mg). The study shows the widespread exposure to ETS in this population, the importance of exposure assessment , the relevance of hair analysis for this purpose. Results suggest that ETS can lead to equivalent exposure to active smoking, and that exposure at home can highly contribute to ETS, which is not solved by smoking ban in public places.
Source: Drug Testing and Analysis - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research