Children living in multi-unit apartment buildings are at higher risk of passive tobacco smoking than those living in detached houses, a new study in the Jan 2011 issue of Pediatrics suggests.
The study led by Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Golisano Children's Hospital found children living in apartments had 45 percent higher exposure to passive smoking.
For the study, the researchers analysed data on cotinine, an alkaloid found in tobacco and also a metabolite of nicotine in more than 5,000 children ages 6 to 18 in a national database.
Cotinine levels were found highest in children who were under age 12, black and of a family with its income below the federal poverty level.
Children are believed to be more vulnerable to passive smoking and exposed children were at higher risk for various illnesses including respiratory infections, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome among others.
But not all children suffer the same.
Another study led by Schultz E.N. and colleagues from the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia suggests genetics plays a role in the vulnerability of a child to certain tobacco smoke-induced health conditions.
The researchers reported in the Nov 2010 issue of the Journal of Asthma that the glutathionine S-transferase (GSTs) enzymes play a critical role in the detoxification of tobacco smoke compounds, which boost risk of asthma among other things.
Genetic variation in the GST genes influences a child's ability to detoxify the smoke pollutants, according to the study.
Cigarette smoke contain more than 7,000 chemicals and hundreds of them are toxic and more than 70 are cancer-causing agents, according to a report released recently by the Surgeon General.
Jimmy Downs - www.foodconsumer.org
