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Estimation of environmental tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy using a single question on household smokers versus serum cotinine

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 12, pages 286–295 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure has been studied in relation to many diseases. The ability of a study to find an association between exposure and disease is, in part, determined by the accuracy of the exposure measure. This study examined how accurately one question, the number of smokers in the household, asked at birth, predicts ETS exposure in pregnant nonsmokers as assessed by serum cotinine. Blood specimens, drawn at 15–19 weeks gestation, from 783 women who participated in a prenatal screening program in California in 1992 were analyzed for cotinine. Serum cotinine was significantly correlated with the number of smokers in the household (r=0.35, P<0.001, geometric mean cotinine (nanograms per milliliter) for 0 smokers=0.06, 1 smoker=0.18, 2 or more smokers=0.29). Using multiple regression, the number of smokers in the household accounted for 11% of the variation in serum cotinine. Cotinine concentrations were twice as high in women living with one or more smokers compared to women not living with a smoker, when reported exposure (0 or >0h) at home, work and other places was similar. Thus, the number of household smokers can account for a statistically significant amount of variation in serum cotinine and omission of this information would result in an underestimation of ETS exposure. Although use of this question alone does not provide an adequate estimation of ETS exposure as determined by serum cotinine, the results of this study indicate that this question is an important component of assessing ETS exposure.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (Grant No. 6RT-0385). The data collection was aided by March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation Grant Nos. 15-FY92-0078 and 15-FY93-0662. The authors thank Lynn Goldman, George Cummingham, Robert Haas, Richard Kreutzer, Enid Satariano, Steve Graham, Cindy Evangelista, and Betsy Noth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Institute, Berkeley, California, USA

    FARLA LYNN KAUFMAN & GERALD NICHOLAS DELORENZE

  2. California Department of Health Services, Genetic Disease Branch, Berkeley, California, USA

    MARTIN KHARRAZI

  3. University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    BRENDA ESKENAZI

  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    JOHN THOMAS BERNERT

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  1. FARLA LYNN KAUFMAN
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Correspondence to FARLA LYNN KAUFMAN.

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KAUFMAN, F., KHARRAZI, M., DELORENZE, G. et al. Estimation of environmental tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy using a single question on household smokers versus serum cotinine. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 12, 286–295 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500224

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