ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE (ETS) EXPOSURE: URINARY COTININE CONCENTRATIONS IN CHILDREN ARE STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOUSE DUST CONCENTRATIONS OF NICOTINE AT HOME

摘要

In the present study the possibility of using nicotine in house dust as an index of ETS exposure was evaluated in an environmental investigation of 23 children with asthma. A standardized procedure for house dust sampling of nicotine with a filter holder connected to a vacuum cleaner, for a defined time and area was developed (F-nicotine). Also, house dust sampling was done from the vacuum cleaner bags of the homes (VC-nicotine). There was a larger variation in VC-nicotine (13-655, median 66 μg/g) compared to F-nicotine (15-393 median 156 μg/g). There were statistically significant associations between an inquiry data based ETS exposure index on the one hand, and urinary cotinine concentrations in children (U-cotinine), F-nicotine and VC-nicotine of their homes, on the other. The strong correlation between U-cotinine and F-nicotine (r_s=0.93; p<0.0001) indicate that the new standardized house dust sampling method should be useful in ETS exposure assessment.