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Saliva Cotinine as an Indicator of Cigarette Smoking in Adolescents
Author(s) -
McNEILL A. D.,
JARVIS M. J.,
WEST R.,
RUSSELL M. A. H.,
BRYANT A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
british journal of addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0952-0481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1987.tb00439.x
Subject(s) - cotinine , saliva , nicotine , inhalation , medicine , expired air , cigarette smoke , cigarette smoking , smoke inhalation , physiology , anesthesia , environmental health
Summary Saliva cotinine and expired‐air carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations were measured in 508 girls aged 11–16 years attending an inner London comprehensive school. A saliva cotinine cut‐point of 14.7 ng/ml detected 99% of regular daily smokers and performed better than expired‐air CO (cut‐point 7 ppm) in identifying smoking (69% versus 54%). The mean saliva cotinine among the regular daily smokers was 200.8 ng/ml, and comparisons with adult smokers suggested that these adolescents were inhaling a similar dose of nicotine per cigarette. Within our sample no evidence was found for an increase in smoke inhalation per cigarette with increasing age suggesting that inhalation develops early in the smoking career.