ABSTRACT
The quantitative level of exposure to sidestream tobacco smoke is difficult to establish even under the best of controlled circumstances. There is increasing evidence that exposure to sidestream tobacco smoke has an adverse effect on human health and comfort. Characterization of sidestream tobacco smoke exposures of individuals, and of the contributions made to such exposures by different environments would be greatly facilitated by the availability of a simple, reliable and inexpensive passive monitor of cumulative exposure to respirable particulates. Cigarette smokers had urinary levels of 8.5 micrograms of cotinine per milligram of creatinine, as compared with levels of 0.5 to 1.5 micrograms of cotinine per milligram of creatinine for non-smokers, depending on the smoking activity around them. In contemplating and designing population based studies of the possible health effects of sidestream tobacco smoke it is clear that exposure characterization is an important, if not the most important factor limiting the power of such studies.
