Background

Tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) through secondhand and thirdhand smoke is a modifiable risk factor that contributes to childhood morbidity. Limited research has assessed surface TSE pollution in children’s environments as a potential source of thirdhand smoke exposure, and none have examined levels of the tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) on surfaces.

Objective

This study measured surface NNK and nicotine in children’s homes and associations with sociodemographics and parent-reported TSE behaviors. We assessed correlations of surface NNK and nicotine with dust NNK, dust nicotine, and child cotinine.

Methods

Home surface wipe NNK and nicotine data from 84 children who lived with smokers were analyzed. Tobit and simple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess associations of surface NNK and nicotine with child characteristics. Spearman’s (ρ) correlations assessed the strength of associations between environmental markers and child cotinine.

Results

Nearly half (48.8%) of children’s home surfaces had detectable NNK and 100% had detectable nicotine. The respective geometric means (GMs) of surface NNK and nicotine loadings were 14.0 ng/m² and 16.4 µg/m². Surface NNK positively correlated with surface nicotine (ρ = 0.54, p < 0.001) and dust NNK (ρ = 0.30, p = 0.020). Surface nicotine positively correlated with dust NNK (ρ = 0.42, p < 0.001) and dust nicotine (ρ = 0.24, p = 0.041). Children with household incomes ≤$15,000 had higher surface NNK levels (GM = 18.7 ng/m², p = 0.017) compared to children with household incomes >$15,000 (GM = 7.1 ng/m²). Children with no home smoking bans had higher surface NNK (GM = 18.1 ng/m², p = 0.020) and surface nicotine (GM = 17.7 µg/m², p = 0.019) levels compared to children with smoking bans (GM = 7.5 ng/m², 4.8 µg/m², respectively).

Impact

Although nicotine on surfaces is an established marker of thirdhand smoke pollution, other thirdhand smoke contaminants have not been measured on surfaces in the homes of children living with smokers. We provide evidence that the potent carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamine NNK was detectable on surfaces in nearly half of children’s homes, and nicotine was detectable on all surfaces. Surface NNK was positively correlated with surface nicotine and dust NNK. Detectable surface NNK levels were found in homes with indoor smoking bans, indicating the role of NNK as a persistent thirdhand smoke pollutant accumulating on surfaces as well as in dust.

中文翻译：

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儿童家中的表面受到尼古丁和强效致癌烟草特有的亚硝胺 NNK 的污染

 背景

通过二手烟和三手烟接触烟草烟雾（TSE）是导致儿童发病的可改变的危险因素。有限的研究将儿童环境中的表面 TSE 污染评估为三手烟暴露的潜在来源，并且没有研究检测烟草特有的亚硝胺 4-(甲基亚硝基氨基)-1-(3-吡啶基)-1-丁酮 (NNK) 的水平在表面上。

 客观的

这项研究测量了儿童家中的表面 NNK 和尼古丁，以及与社会人口统计学和家长报告的 TSE 行为的关联。我们评估了表面 NNK 和尼古丁与粉尘 NNK、粉尘尼古丁和儿童可替宁的相关性。

 方法

对 84 名与吸烟者一起生活的儿童的家庭表面擦拭巾 NNK 和尼古丁数据进行了分析。进行 Tobit 和简单线性回归分析来评估表面 NNK 和尼古丁与儿童特征的关联。 Spearman (ρ) 相关性评估了环境标志物与儿童可替宁之间的关联强度。

 结果

近一半 (48.8%) 的儿童家庭表面可检测到 NNK，100% 的儿童家庭表面可检测到尼古丁。表面 NNK 和尼古丁负载量的几何平均值 (GM) 分别为 14.0 ng/m ² 和 16.4 µg/m ² 。表面 NNK 与表面尼古丁 (ρ = 0.54，p < 0.001) 和灰尘 NNK (ρ = 0.30，p = 0.020) 呈正相关。表面尼古丁与灰尘 NNK（ρ = 0.42，p < 0.001）和灰尘尼古丁（ρ = 0.24，p = 0.041）呈正相关。与家庭收入 > 15,000 美元的儿童（GM = 7.1 ng/m ² ，p = 0.017）。 b3>）。未实施家庭吸烟禁令的儿童具有较高的表面 NNK（GM = 18.1 ng/m ² ，p = 0.020）和表面尼古丁（GM = 17.7 µg/m ² ，p = 0.019） ) 水平与禁止吸烟的儿童相比（GM 分别为 7.5 ng/m ² 和 4.8 µg/m ² ）。

 影响

尽管表面上的尼古丁是三手烟污染的既定标志，但尚未在与吸烟者生活的儿童的家中表面上测量其他三手烟污染物。我们提供的证据表明，在近一半儿童家庭的表面上可以检测到强效致癌的烟草特有的亚硝胺 NNK，并且在所有表面上都可以检测到尼古丁。表面NNK与表面尼古丁和灰尘NNK呈正相关。在室内禁烟的家庭中发现了可检测到的表面 NNK 水平，这表明 NNK 作为一种持久性三手烟雾污染物在表面和灰尘中积聚。