Pirkle James L, Bernert John T, Caudill Samuel P, Sosnoff Connie S, Pechacek Terry F
Division of Laboratory Science, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Jun;114(6):853-8. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8850.
The objective of this study was to describe the exposure of nonsmokers in the U.S. population to secondhand smoke (SHS) using serum cotinine concentrations measured over a period of 14 years, from October 1988 through December 2002. This study consists of a series of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) measuring serum cotinine as an index of SHS exposure of participants. Study participants were individuals representative of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population, > or = 4 years of age. We analyzed serum cotinine and interview data from NHANES obtained during surveys conducted during four distinct time periods. Our results document a substantial decline of approximately 70% in serum cotinine concentrations in nonsmokers during this period. This decrease was reflected in all groups within the population regardless of age, sex, or race/ethnicity. The large decrease that we observed in serum cotinine concentrations suggests a substantial reduction in the exposure of the U.S. population to SHS during the 1990s. The exposure of nonsmokers to SHS represents an important public health concern. Our findings suggest that recent public health efforts to reduce such exposures have had an important effect, although children and non-Hispanic black nonsmokers show relatively higher levels of serum cotinine.
本研究的目的是利用1988年10月至2002年12月期间14年测量的血清可替宁浓度，描述美国非吸烟人群二手烟（SHS）暴露情况。本研究由一系列国家健康和营养检查调查（NHANES）组成，这些调查测量血清可替宁作为参与者二手烟暴露的指标。研究参与者是代表美国4岁及以上非机构化平民人口的个体。我们分析了在四个不同时间段进行的调查期间从NHANES获得的血清可替宁和访谈数据。我们的结果表明，在此期间非吸烟者的血清可替宁浓度大幅下降了约70%。这种下降在人群中的所有组中都有体现，无论年龄、性别或种族/族裔如何。我们观察到的血清可替宁浓度的大幅下降表明，20世纪90年代美国人群二手烟暴露大幅减少。非吸烟者接触二手烟是一个重要的公共卫生问题。我们的研究结果表明，最近减少此类暴露的公共卫生努力产生了重要影响，尽管儿童和非西班牙裔黑人非吸烟者的血清可替宁水平相对较高。
