Tobacco Documents Online

American Medical Association E'hvsicidns dedicated to the health of America News Release EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 11:15 a.m. (ET) TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1994 Media Advisory: To contact Gideon Koren, MD, call Judy Irwin at 416/813-6380. PASSIVE CIGARETTE SMOKE FOUND IN FETAL HAIR Stud~ pro~ ieies tirst biochemical evidence that infants of passive smokers are exposed to nicotine tiEW YURh--For the first time, there is biochemical evidence that the toxic elements of passive cigarette smoke can affect the fetus of a non-smoking mother, according to an article in this week's Journul oJ the .•imerrrun tfeclicul .4ssvciulion. A team led by Gideon Koren, MD, at the liospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and colleagues, conducted a study to describe the distribution characteristics of nicotine and its major metabolite, cotinine, in maternal and neonatal hair. I)r. Koren, director of the hospital's Division of PharmacologyiToxicology, presented the study at a media hrieting sponsored here today by the AMA and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. rhe researchers say that their data indicate that pregnant women exposed to passive smoke and their infants accumulated nicotine and cotinine to measurable levels." The researchers measured maternal and neonatal hair concentrations of nicotine and cotinine in 94 mother-infant pairs in two newborn nurseries in Toronto, Ontario, one to three days after delivery. Mothers who were active smokers, non-smokers, and passive smokers, and their infants were included. ~ ~ ~ --more-- ~ C7~ 00 W 515 North State Street ~ Chicago,ltlinois 60610 312 464 4430

J (11:1IIZ) I'he stud~ savs: "Alatemal ciuarette smokinu during pregnancy has long been associated with increased risks i'Or low birth %~eiLiht. , rematurit~. spontaneous ahortion, perinatal mortality, and the sudden infant death syndrome. `1oreo~er, during the last decade, evidence has accumulated for long- terln neuroto~\icitv at'fecting neuro hehavioral development." ~I! icti.e ~n:okina %~omen participatuna in the studv (36) reported a steady number of cigarettes used Jail\ : the% ~mo!.ed between one and 40 c«arettes per day. They had high hair concentrations of 19.2 ng mLt for nicotine and 0. ', nu mu tor cotinine. There was a significant correlation between the ,:uncentratic n()i' nicotine and its metaholite. Infants of smokers had mean hair concentrations of 2.4 I1L mg tur nlcoline and 2.8 nu n1L lilr cotinine. I*hirty-tile non-`moking mothers participated in the stud`. Their mean hair concenti ons of nicotine ( 1.2) and cotinine (()..1 ) %t ere signiticantlv lower than in smoking mothers. ~~,milarlv, neonatal hair concentrations of nicotint (0.4 na.mg) and cotinine (0.26 ng/mg) %~ere signifieantly lo%~~r in infants of sm, ers. I~~cnt~ thrce passive smoking mothers and their infants participated in the study. Their concentratie+ns of nicotine (3.2 na mu fiOr mothers and 0:28 ng/mg for infants) and cotinine (0.9 nu mu fiOr mothers and 0.6 ng,nfi, for infants) were intermediate and significantly different from those of both the smokers and i; qnsmokers. I'h<y a!<o say: "This the first biochemical evidence that infants of passive smokers are at risk of measur, '~ exposure -iarette smoke. I lair accumulation of cigarette smoke constituents reflects long-ter-, ~ystet,7ic exf ~e to these toxins and therefore may be well correlated with perinatal risks." For more information: contact the AMA's Ray McNally at 312/464-4843.