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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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New Home Test Checks for ETS Exposure; ASH Cited [01/20-1]
Excerpts from: New Home Test Boosts Case Against Smoking Detector Measures Passive Exposure
By Avram Goldstein The Washington Post [01/20/04]
Martha S. Jones has asthma, so whenever her husband, Bob, lights up at their Woodbridge home, the agreement is that he steps outside.
She used to think that protected her from exposure to the more than 4,000 chemical compounds found in cigarette smoke, 43 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals. Then she tried a new do-it-yourself urine test for detecting exposure to secondhand smoke, and her sense of security dissolved.
The test rated her at 2 on a scale of 6 -- one notch below that of a regular smoker. Jones said she was shocked to register such a high level of passive smoke exposure, which she thinks came from nicotine residue in her husband's car and time spent with his smoking friends away from their house. Now she is working -- delicately -- to persuade her husband to quit, she said.
The manufacturer, Nymox Corp. of Maywood, N.J., says the $15 test can be used to measure the secondhand smoke exposure of employees in smoky workplaces and people who live with smokers. One expert says it could be used in child custody cases.
The TobacAlert test doesn't require expensive and time-consuming lab analysis, and results appear in about 15 minutes, Munzar said. The test strip is sensitive enough to detect only an hour of exposure to tobacco smoke in the previous three days.
John F. Banzhaf III, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health and a public interest law professor at George Washington University, sees advantages and disadvantages. "I see it as a major new weapon in the nonsmokers' rights movement -- particularly the movement to protect young children," he said.
But he said he worries that low readings might make people think they are safe even though minuscule amounts of some toxins can cause severe reactions in susceptible individuals. "If it is used by people who don't know these things and don't take the time to read the brochure, then it could be misleading," he said.
TobacAlert strips contain microscopic particles of colloidal gold, coated with an antibody that binds to cotinine, a byproduct of the body's reaction to nicotine. Nicotine dissipates in the body within two hours, but cotinine lingers for about three days in blood, saliva and urine. TobacAlert detects as little as six nanograms (billionths of a gram) of cotinine in less than a quarter teaspoon of urine. The test is gauged in whole numbers from zero to 6, with 6 denoting more than 1,000 nanograms. Nymox says people with readings above 100 nanograms -- 3 or above -- are smokers.
TobacAlert verifies use of tobacco in cigarettes, cigars, pipes or chewing tobacco, company officials said. They said TobacAlert compared favorably with lab tests in company studies, and they promised to share details in scientific meetings and journals.
In children younger than 18 months, secondhand smoke causes 150,000 to 300,000 respiratory tract infections a year, the CDC estimated. Children frequently exposed to tobacco smoke suffer more respiratory problems and ear infections and are more likely to develop asthma, the agency said. About 60 percent of deaths from sudden infant death syndrome are attributable to exposure to parental tobacco smoke before or after birth, CDC said.
NicAlert™ : A Simple and Cost Effective Way to Monitor Exposure to Tobacco Products
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