Source Of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Research Articles

Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke on Oxidative Stress in Childhood: A Human Biomonitoring Study.

Household smoking is one of the main sources of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure for children, a population considered to be at high risk for associated negative health outcomes. Several studies evidenced the occurrence of early effects related to ETS exposure, including the development of the oxidative stress process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between urinary levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2-deoxyguanosine (8oxodGuo), a nucleic acid oxidation biomarker, and socio-demographic features and lifestyle factors in school children (aged 5-11 years). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 154 healthy children, residing in rural zones of central Italy. For each participant, one urine sample was analyzed by the HPLC-MS/MS technique to simultaneously quantify 8oxodGuo and cotinine (a biomarker of ETS exposure), while information on the children was collected using a questionnaire filled out by the parents. Urinary levels of 8oxodGuo was found to be significantly higher in children exposed to ETS compared to those not exposed (5.53 vs. 4.78 μg/L; p = 0.019). This result was confirmed by the significant association observed between urinary levels of cotinine and 8oxodGuo (r = 0.364, p < 0.0001). Additionally, children exposed to ETS with no smoking ban at home showed a further increased difference than those not exposed (6.35 μg/L vs. 4.78 μg/L; p = 0.008). Considering the great number of adverse effects on human health due to exposure to passive smoking, especially if this exposure begins early in life, it is essential to implement health promotion interventions in this area.

A Cross-Sectional Study on Benzene Exposure in Pediatric Age and Parental Smoking Habits at Home.

After the introduction of the smoke-free legislation, household smoking has become the major source of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure for children. In our previous research, we found a strong association between urinary unmodified benzene (u-UB) levels and passive smoking exposure related to the home smoking policies (HSP). The aim of the study is to further investigate the impacts of several factors on ETS-exposure in childhood by using u-UB as tobacco-related carcinogen biomarker of exposure. Two cross-sectional studies were performed on the same target population of our previous research, in summer and winter season of the years 2017 and 2018, respectively. A questionnaire and a head space–solid phase micro-extraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) analytical method were used as investigative procedures. The improvement found in smoking habits, when compared to our previous surveys, reduced the levels of u-UB in children. However, significant differences related to the high number of smokers and smoked cigarettes, in total and at home, still persist. These differences are more relevant in the winter season. Finally, the only effective way for making homes completely smokefree is to develop public health policies for encouraging people to quit or drastically reduce smoking.

Factors Associated with Complete Home Smoking Ban among Chinese Parents of Young Children.

(1) Background: The home environment is a major source of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) exposure among children especially in early childhood. ETS exposure is an important health risk among children and can cause severe and chronic diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, and premature death. However, ETS exposure at home has often been neglected in the Chinese families. Identification of factors that facilitate or otherwise hamper the adoption of home smoking ban will help in the design and implementation of evidence-based intervention programs. This study identifies factors correlated with home smoking bans in Chinese families with children. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional survey of parents living in Nanning city, Guangxi Province, China with at least one smoker and a child in the household was conducted between September, 2013 and January, 2014. A Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables differences between the parents who had home smoking bans and those with no home smoking ban. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors correlated with home smoking bans. (3) Results: 969 completed questionnaires were collected with a response rate of 92.29% (969/1050). Of the respondents (n = 969), 14.34% had complete home smoking bans. Factors that were associated with home smoking bans were: having no other smokers in the family (OR = 2.173), attaining education up to high school (OR = 2.471), believing that paternal smoking would increase the risk of lower respiratory tract illnesses (OR = 2.755), perceiving the fact that smoking cigarettes in the presence of the child will hurt the child’s health (OR = 1.547), believing that adopting a no smoking policy at home is very important (OR = 2.816), and being confident to prevent others to smoke at home (OR = 1.950). Additionally, parents who perceived difficulty in adopting a no smoking policy at home would not have a home smoking ban (OR = 0.523). (4) Conclusions: A home smoking ban is not widely adopted by families of hospitalized children in Guangxi Province, China. To protect the health of children, there is a need to develop and test interventions to promote home smoking bans. Factors identified as predictors of home smoking ban should be considered in the design of interventions.

The interpersonal management of environmental tobacco smoke in the home–a qualitative study

The home is a significant source of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure for many children and, therefore, increasingly a focus of intervention, although evidence of effectiveness remains equivocal. However, little is known about the nature, genesis, and micro-social context of self-imposed restrictions on smoking in the home. In this exploratory study, interviews were conducted in 15 diverse households that had resident children in Toronto, Canada. The results suggest that households cluster into three distinctive groups, from a high degree of restrictions to a lack of consistent measures. Attempts to control ETS exposures in homes often emerge as a result of protracted negotiations and must be understood in the context of situated relationships within the family. Implications for policy and practice, as well as recommendations for future research, are addressed.

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure in children: household and community determinants.

To determine the most important sources of environmental tobacco smoke exposure to young children, the authors studied the associations among urinary cotinine, reported household smoking habits, and socioeconomic variables in 575 schoolchildren aged 6-11 y. The school children were among a population of prodigious smokers in Cape Town, South Africa. Eighty percent of the children were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Maternal smoking, which was adjusted for creatinine, accounted for 21.8% of the variation in urinary cotinine--more than all other sources combined. The male parent and other household smokers accounted for 12.7% of the variation, and socioeconomic indicators explained an additional 4.8%. By defining the ecological variable of smoking prevalence per school, the authors estimated a "community" contribution of 3.3%. The relative importance of different sources of smoke should be taken into account in the prevention of environmental tobacco smoke exposure in young children. Most importantly, of all the sources of environmental tobacco smoke, mothers' smoking habits had the greatest impact on exposure to children.

Cigars as a source of environmental tobacco smoke

Cigars as a source of environmental tobacco smoke

Lung function, pre- and post-natal smoke exposure, and wheezing in the first year of life.

The relationship between initial level of lung function and subsequent wheezing, lower respiratory illness (LRI) was studied in 97 infants in whom the first measurement of pulmonary function (PFT) was made before 6 months of age. Occurrence of LRI was evaluated by standardized questionnaires at each well-baby visit, biweekly telephone calls to mothers, and review of all visits to physicians. Infant PFT was assessed by partial expiratory flow-volume curves and helium-dilution measurement of functional residual capacity (FRC). Maternal, prenatal smoking was assessed by urine cotinine and standard questionnaires. Infants who developed an LRI during the first year of life had lower preillness length-corrected forced expiratory flow at FRC (VFRC) than those who did not experience an LRI (males, 2.06 +/- 0.20 versus 2.32 +/- 0.29 ml/s/cm; females, 2.38 +/- 0.20 versus 2.91 +/- 0.26 ml/s/cm). Similar results were observed with FRC-corrected VFRC. No differences were observed for FRC. Differences in lung function were greatest in female infants whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy (VFRC 2.67 +/- 0.25 versus 3.49 +/- 0.26 ml/s/cm for those with and without LRI, respectively; p = 0.03). History of maternal wheezing was more common in infants who experience an LRI, independent of maternal smoking. The results were not influenced by exposure to nonmaternal sources of environmental tobacco smoke in the postnatal period. Regression analyses that included data for multiple measurements of VFRC over the first year and took account of duration of follow-up demonstrated that lower levels of VFRC were associated with an increased frequency of LRI, especially in female infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Factors Determining Exposure to Passive Smoking in Young Adults Living at Home: Quantitative Analysis Using Saliva Cotinine Concentrations

Saliva cotinine concentrations were used to examine determinants of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in 393 non-smoking students (age range 16-19 years) attending a sixth form college and living at home. Average concentrations were low (median 0.60 ng/ml), reflecting partly the warm weather at the time of the survey and partly the predominantly middle class sample. Despite this, cotinine levels were strongly related to the extent of self-reported passive smoking in the past three days (medians 0.30, 0.60, 0.90 and 1.35 ng/ml in those reporting 'None at all', 'A little', 'Some' and 'A lot' respectively, p less than 0.0001). Individual sources of environmental tobacco smoke identified were smoking by mothers (p less than 0.0001), by fathers (p less than 0.01), and exposure at college (p less than 0.001) and when out in the evenings (p less than 0.001). The results indicate that exposure outside the home may become of equal or greater importance than family smoking in determining the overall passive smoking dose received by this age group.