African-American children appear to be especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke, according to a new study focusing on asthmatic youngsters ages 5-12.

MedPage Today reported March 12 that researchers from the University of Cincinnati studied 220 children, about half of whom were African-American. Lead author Stephen Wilson, M.D., and colleagues found African-American kids had significantly higher levels of cotinine -- a nicotine metabolite -- in their blood and hair compared to other children exposed to similar levels of secondhand smoke. "African-American children may handle environmental tobacco smoke differently than white children," said Wilson.

"African-American children suffer from higher rates of tobacco-related disorders, such as asthma, sudden-infant death syndrome, and low birth weight, and we need to know why," Wilson added. "So our goal is to understand how certain populations -- particularly those groups who are most susceptible -- respond to (secondhand smoke) exposure."

The study appears in the March 2007 issue of the journal Chest.