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Melinda Mahabee-Gittens, MD, MSAlthough smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke has long been known to cause health problems, investigators have found that second-hand smoke – residues that persist after the smoke has dissipated – exposes children with pollutants like nicotine and may be related to breathing problems.
All children in the study had detectable levels of nicotine on their hands, based on test wipes used to wipe their dominant hands (geometric mean).[GeoM]= 86.2 ng / wipe; range = 3.5-2190.4 / wipe).
Children aged 2 to 4 had significantly higher nicotine levels on their hands than younger and older age groups. "Increased mobility, exploratory behavior, reduced sleep time, and increased contact with polluted surfaces," may explain the high levels of nicotine in the study authors, led by Melinda Mahabee-Gittens, MD , MS, attending physician, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Ashley Merianos, PhD, badistant professor at the University of Cincinnati.
In addition, the investigators found that even when the caregivers reported that no smoking was smoked near the child (28.0% of children) or at home (40.7% of children) these children still had 59.7 ng / ml of nicotine in their hands, respectively.
"This just shows that indoor smoking bans do not necessarily protect children from exposure to tobacco smoke and related pollutants, such as second-hand smoke," Merianos said in a statement. a statement.
Ashley Merianos, PhD"It also shows that exposure to toxic substances from tobacco smoke is more prevalent than previously thought because exposure in children is not limited to inhalation. second-hand smoke, "Mahabee-Gittens added.
The study included 104 pediatric patients aged 0 to 17 years who visited the Cincinnati pediatric emergency department for children between April 2016 and August 2017 with complaints potentially related to smoke exposure tobacco. Each participant had at least one caregiver who smoked.
Responsible people were asked about their own smoking habits, the number of smokers who lived with the child, the number of cigarettes smoked per day by those responsible, the number of cigarettes smoked around the child in n any place (at home and by car, for example). and the number of cigarettes smoked around the child inside the house.
All the children had a health problem potentially related to third-hand exposure. The most common of these were cough / congestion (n = 87, 83.7%), earache (n = 33, 31.7%), and wheezing or breathing difficulties (n = 33, 31.7%). = 31, 29.8%). The most common medical history was asthma, which affected 19.2% of participants.
Children with cough or congestion had significantly higher nicotine levels (GeoM = 97.7 ng / wipe) than children with no cough or congestion (GeoM = 59.0 ng / wipes). P= 0.01), even taking into account the age and number of cigarettes / day of caregivers.
"Future work should explore the badociations between nicotine in the hands and age to determine how the changing interactions of children with their environment and their behaviors contribute to nicotine increases in children ages 2 to 4, if washing your hands reduces the risk and if [secondhand smoke-related] clinical diseases, "wrote the investigators.
Merianos pointed out that these results are preliminary and that further research is needed. "There is little literature on the impact of second-hand smoke on the health of children."
The study "Nicotine in Children's Hands: Limited Protection from Smoking Bans and Early Clinical Outcomes" was published in Overview of Tobacco Use.
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