Tests Show 70 Percent Less Exposure to Tobacco Smoke

Tests Show 70 Percent Less Exposure to Tobacco Smoke
June 14, 2006

Research Summary

Tests of nonsmokers indicate that exposure to secondhand smoke in the U.S. may have fallen as much as 70 percent between 1998 and 2002.

WebMD reported June 7 that researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed blood levels of cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, among about 30,000 nonsmokers who took part in national health surveys and blood tests. Between 1988 and 1991, researchers found, 88 percent of nonsmokers had detectable levels of cotinine, indicating tobacco-smoke exposure over the previous few days. By 2001-02, that figure had dropped to 43 percent.

Researcher James Pirkle, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues reported that cotinine levels declined among all ages, genders, races, and ethnic groups studied. But blacks still had higher cotinine levels than whites or Hispanics; researchers were unsure whether this was due to exposure or metabolic factors.

The study appears in the June 2006 issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

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