What is the most sensitive biomarker for second hand smoke?

Blood nicotine and metabolites Nicotine, cotinine and 3-HC can all be measured in blood, but cotinine is generally the preferred biomarker4 because of its longer half-life.

Can cotinine be detected in urine from secondhand smoke?

If you smoke menthol cigarettes or breathe in secondhand menthol smoke, cotinine may stay in your urine longer. A saliva test is considered the most sensitive way to detect cotinine, and it can detect it for up to 4 days.

What are the dangers of second hand smoke exposure?

There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes numerous health problems in infants and children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Can you measure second hand smoke?

Secondhand smoke exposure can be measured. This is done by testing indoor air for chemicals found in tobacco smoke, such as nicotine. Your healthcare provider can also test your own level of exposure. This is done by testing the level of cotinine in your blood, saliva, or urine.

How bad is third hand smoke?

Thirdhand smoke may damage DNA One study found that being exposed to thirdhand smoke may cause damage and breaks in human DNA. Researchers tested human cells in a laboratory rather than actual humans. But Dr. Choi says, “DNA damage is a real risk and can increase your chances of disease.”

What is third hand nicotine?

Answer From J. Taylor Hays, M.D. Thirdhand smoke is residual nicotine and other chemicals left on indoor surfaces by tobacco smoke. People are exposed to these chemicals by touching contaminated surfaces or breathing in the off-gassing from these surfaces.

Can you test positive for nicotine from secondhand smoke?

Exposure to second-hand smoke is usually not enough to trigger a false-positive result, but being exposed to frequent or very high levels of second-hand smoke may cause someone to test positive for nicotine use. Such results are likely very rare, however.

Can you get 2nd hand smoke from clothing?

You’re likely familiar with secondhand smoke exposure that occurs from inhaling smoke from someone else using cigarettes. Thirdhand smoke, on the other hand, deals with surfaces you touch that have nicotine residue on them. Such surfaces may include: clothing.

What do biomarkers tell us about secondhand and thirdhand tobacco smoke?

Biomarkers of Exposure to Secondhand and Thirdhand Tobacco Smoke: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives Smoking is the leading preventable disease worldwide and passive smoking is estimated to be the cause of about 1.0% of worldwide mortality.

Is secondhand smoke harmful to children?

Introduction Secondhand smoke (SHS) is composed of side stream smoke from burning tobacco or mainstream smoke that is exhaled by smokers. SHS contains > 7000 chemicals comprising hundreds of toxins and 70 types of carcinogens [1]. Thus, SHS is detrimental to nonsmokers’ health, particularly children and pregnant women.

Is cotinine a biomarker of SHS exposure?

Among biomarkers, cotinine is widely acknowledged as a valid indicator of SHS exposure owing to its biological stability. It has been used to provide evidence in previous studies that confirmed the causal relationship between SHS and SHS-induced diseases, including lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases [36,37]. 4.3.

What is the upper limit for distinguishing nonsmokers from active smokers?

Based on a previous study conducted in Korea [16], we applied a cutoff point (UCo ≤ 20 ng/mL), which is an upper limit for distinguishing nonsmokers from active smokers. According to this criterion, 2147 of the total subjects were further classified as smokers, although they answered that they do not smoke (Figure 1). Open in a separate window