Occupational Exposure to Second-hand Tobacco Smoke in the United States: NHANES 1999 - 2008

摘要

Background: Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) increases risk for acute and chronic negative health effects among nonsmokers. SHS exposure among nonsmokers can occur in the home, in public places, and also in the workplace. Objective: The objective of this study is to identify occupations with the highest risk of SHS exposure in the workplace. Methods: Sample data used in the study were serum cotinine data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over a period from 1999 to 2008. Nonsmokers (with serum cotinine ＜=10 ng/mL) were categorized into 18 working groups based on self-reported occupations. Results: During 1999-2000, workers among food preparation/service and construction/extraction occupations had the highest geometric means (GM) for serum cotinine (0.141 (95%CI: 0.098, 0.203) and 0.110 (0.065, 0.185) ng/mL, respectively), while education/training/library and farming/fishing/forestry occupations had the lowest GMs (0.050 (0.042, 0.060) and 0.055 (0.036, 0.085) ng/mL, respectively). During 2007-2008, SHS exposure was highest in food preparation/service (GM: 0.096 [0.062, 0.149] ng/mL) and installation/maintenance/repair (0.081 [0.054, 0.120] ng/mL), while the occupations with the lowest serum cotinine levels were legal (0.018 [0.015, 0.021] ng/mL) and education/training/library (0.025 [0.020, 0.031] ng/mL). Serum cotinine levels decreased 49% from 1999-2000 to 2007-2008. During the same period, the two largest SHS exposure deductions were identified in the legal (71%) and personal care/service (63%) occupations, while the two lowest reductions were observed in the farming/fishing/forestry (19%) and instaflation/maintenance/repair (22%) occupations. Conclusions: The overall results indicate that SHS exposure varied significantly among different occupations, and that targeted efforts may be needed to decrease SHS at food preparation/service workplaces.