Environmental tobacco smoke exposure is associated with increased levels of metals in children’s saliva
Gatzke-Kopp LM, Riis JL, Ahmadi H, et al. 5 May 2023. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. 33 | doi:10.1038/s41370-023-00554-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-023-00554-w
“The current study examines whether there is a relationship between ETS exposure, as gauged by salivary cotinine, and salivary levels of metals in a subset (n = 238) of children from the Family Life Project. Using inductively-coupled-plasma optical emission spectrophotometry, levels of metals in saliva from children at ~90 months of age were measured. Salivary cotinine was measured using a commercial immunoassay.”
“This is the first study to demonstrate significant associations between salivary cotinine and salivary levels of Cu, Zn and Pb (copper, zinc, lead), suggesting that environmental tobacco smoke exposure may be one source of increased children’s exposure to heavy metals. This study also demonstrates that saliva samples can measure heavy metal exposure and thus be a non-invasive tool for assessing a broader range of risk indicators.”
Comment: Children’s environmental exposure to secondhand smoke may produce significant and long-term brain damage to children from heavy metals.
Stephen Hamann
