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. 1989 Oct;79(10):1381–1384. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.10.1381

Elevated blood levels of carcinogens in passive smokers.

M Maclure 1, R B Katz 1, M S Bryant 1, P L Skipper 1, S R Tannenbaum 1
PMCID: PMC1350179  PMID: 2782507

Abstract

The hypothesis that involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke--passive smoking--results in greater risk of cancer was assessed by measuring the levels of two known carcinogens in the blood of 57 nonsmokers with varying degrees of involuntary exposure, including six heavily exposed bartenders. The concentrations of hemoglobin adducts of 4-aminobiphenyl, a bladder carcinogen, were significantly higher in subjects with confirmed involuntary exposure (plasma cotinine concentrations between 2 and 23 ng/ml) compared with subjects with undetectable levels of cotinine. Similarly, adducts of 3-aminobiphenyl were significantly elevated in subjects with confirmed exposure. The odds of 3-aminobiphenyl adduct levels exceeding 2 pg/g of hemoglobin were 6:7 among the confirmed exposed, compared with the odds of 2:42 among subjects with undetectable cotinine (odds ratio = 18; 95 percent confidence interval = 3.3, 94). The validity of the assay was demonstrated by showing striking declines in adduct levels among quitting smokers.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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