Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 127, November 2013, Pages 49-55
Environmental Research

Short Communication
Variability in the correlation between nicotine and PM2.5 as airborne markers of second-hand smoke exposure

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2013.09.003Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We correlated air nicotine and PM2.5 as markers of SHS exposure.

  • Correlations considered the setting, type of environment and intensity of exposure.

  • Correlation was higher in indoor environments and at high SHS levels.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between particulate matter of diameter≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) and airborne nicotine concentration as markers of second-hand smoke exposure with respect to the setting studied, the intensity of exposure, and the type of environment studied (indoors or outdoors). Data are derived from two independent studies that simultaneously measured PM2.5 and nicotine concentrations in the air as airborne markers of second-hand smoke exposure in public places and workplaces, including health care centres, bars, public administration offices, educational centres, and transportation. We obtained 213 simultaneous measures of airborne nicotine and PM2.5. Nicotine in the air was measured with active samplers containing a sodium bisulphate-treated filter that was analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. PM2.5 was measured with a SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor. We calculated Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) between both measures for overall data and stratified by setting, type of environment (indoors/outdoors), and intensity of second-hand smoke exposure (low/high, according to the global median nicotine concentration). We also fitted generalized regression models to further explore these relationships. The median airborne nicotine concentration was 1.36 µg/m3, and the median PM2.5 concentration was 32.13 µg/m3. The overall correlation between both markers was high (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient=0.709; 95% CI: 0.635–0.770). Correlations were higher indoors (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient=0.739; 95% CI: 0.666–0.798) and in environments with high second-hand smoke exposure (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient=0.733; 95% CI: 0.631–0.810). The multivariate analysis adjusted for type of environment and intensity of second-hand smoke exposure confirmed a strong relationship (7.1% increase in geometric mean PM2.5 concentration per µg/m3 nicotine concentration), but only in indoor environments in a stratified analysis (6.7% increase; 95% CI: 4.3–9.1%). Although the overall correlation between airborne nicotine and PM2.5 is high, there is some variability regarding the type of environment and the intensity of second-hand smoke exposure. In the absence of other sources of combustion, air nicotine and PM2.5 measures can be used indoors, while PM2.5 should be used outdoors with caution.

Introduction

Second-hand smoke is a complex chemical mixture derived from combustion compounds in tobacco smoke. Its inhalation causes adverse health outcomes, particularly cancer and cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Because involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke is recognised as a cause of disease and death, it is of relevance to assess it using objective measures.

Nicotine in the air and particulate matter of diameter≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) are reliable indicators of second-hand smoke exposure, and a correlation between them has been described in some studies (Apelberg et al., 2013, Avila-Tang et al., 2010). However, we are unaware of studies describing the association between these airborne markers that take into account some characteristics of the exposure, such as its intensity, the setting studied, and whether the measurements were taken indoors or outdoors. This study aims to assess the relationship between airborne nicotine and PM2.5 as markers of second-hand smoke exposure considering these contextual variables.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Data are derived from two independent studies (López et al., 2013, Sureda et al., 2012) that simultaneously measured both airborne nicotine and PM2.5 as markers of second-hand smoke exposure in a variety of different settings: health care centres, bars, public administration offices, educational centres, and transportation. From the first study (López et al., 2013), conducted in 2010–2011, we included 185 paired measures in bars from three regions of Spain. The study followed a multistage

Results

The pooled data included 213 paired measurements of airborne nicotine and PM2.5. The median concentration of nicotine was 1.36 µg/m3 and the corresponding value of PM2.5 was 32.13 µg/m3 (Table 1). The overall correlation between both markers was high (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient=0.709; 95% CI: 0.635–0.770; Table 1). By setting, the correlation was higher in health care centres (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient=0.857; 95% CI: 0.448–0.969) and in bars (Spearman's rank correlation

Discussion

We observed an overall high correlation between airborne nicotine and PM2.5 measurements. As summarised in Table 3, previous studies also found good correlations between them, with 61% of the values over 0.5. Nevertheless, very low correlation was observed in non-smoking game rooms in Korea (Kim et al., 2010). Low correlations were also reported in another study, in which high variability was observed in data from restaurants in different countries (Bohanon et al., 2003). A low correlation of

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Fernando Agüero, Ester Basart, Marta Bosch, Eugenio Calciati, Gisèle Contreras, Elena García, Jordi García, Oleguer Gispert, Teresa Hernández, Matilde López, Sandra Manzanares, Joana Martín, Miquel Molist, Carles Mundet, Anna C. Osanz, Magda Pagès, Angel Rodríguez, Montse Salat, Meritxell Serres, and Martí Tantinyà (Catalonia); Gestaly Valencia (Galicia); and Elga Mayo (Madrid) for data collection. We thank Marina Julià and Esteve Saltó for fieldwork coordination

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    Funding sources: This study was partly funded by the Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, the Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya, and the Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III. EF, JMMS, AS, XS, MF, MJL, and MN also received funding from the Department of Universities and Research, Government of Catalonia (Grants 2009SGR192 and 2009SGR1345) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RTIC Cancer RD06/0020/0089 and RD12/0036/0053, and project PI1102054).

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    Dr. Manel Nebot died in October 18, 2012. He was pioneer and leader on tobacco control research and evaluation of public health interventions.

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