Skip to main content
NCBI home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1994 Sep;84(9):1489–1491. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.9.1489

The effect of paternal smoking on the birthweight of newborns whose mothers did not smoke. Group Health Medical Associates.

F D Martinez 1, A L Wright 1, L M Taussig 1
PMCID: PMC1615178  PMID: 8092378

Abstract

We examined the relationship of paternal smoking habits to birthweight in a cohort of infants enrolled at birth (n = 1219). To assess validity of parental smoking reports, cord serum levels of cotinine were measured in 175 newborns. A mean birthweight deficit of 88 g was found in newborns of nonsmoking mothers whose fathers smoked more than 20 cigarettes/day. Only 2 of 138 newborns whose mothers said they were nonsmokers had cotinine levels indicating that their mothers were active smokers. Among infants of nonsmoking mothers, detectability of cotinine in cord blood was significantly correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked daily by fathers. These data suggest that fetal growth may be adversely affected when the mother is passively exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy.

Full text

PDF
1489

Selected References

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

  1. Comstock G. W., Shah F. K., Meyer M. B., Abbey H. Low birth weight and neonatal mortality rate related to maternal smoking and socioeconomic status. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1971 Sep;111(1):53–59. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(71)90926-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Haddow J. E., Knight G. J., Palomaki G. E., McCarthy J. E. Second-trimester serum cotinine levels in nonsmokers in relation to birth weight. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1988 Aug;159(2):481–484. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9378(88)80114-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hogue C. J., Buehler J. W., Strauss L. T., Smith J. C. Overview of the National Infant Mortality Surveillance (NIMS) project--design, methods, results. Public Health Rep. 1987 Mar-Apr;102(2):126–138. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Koo L. C., Ho J. H., Rylander R. Life-history correlates of environmental tobacco smoke: a study on nonsmoking Hong Kong Chinese wives with smoking versus nonsmoking husbands. Soc Sci Med. 1988;26(7):751–760. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(88)90066-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Langone J. J., Gjika H. B., Van Vunakis H. Nicotine and its metabolites. Radioimmunoassays for nicotine and cotinine. Biochemistry. 1973 Nov 20;12(24):5025–5030. doi: 10.1021/bi00748a032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lazzaroni F., Bonassi S., Manniello E., Morcaldi L., Repetto E., Ruocco A., Calvi A., Cotellessa G. Effect of passive smoking during pregnancy on selected perinatal parameters. Int J Epidemiol. 1990 Dec;19(4):960–966. doi: 10.1093/ije/19.4.960. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. MacArthur C., Knox E. G. Passive smoking and birthweight. Lancet. 1987 Jan 3;1(8523):37–38. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(87)90720-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Macmahon B., Alpert M., Salber E. J. Infant weight and parental smoking habits. Am J Epidemiol. 1965 Nov;82(3):247–261. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120547. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Martin T. R., Bracken M. B. Association of low birth weight with passive smoke exposure in pregnancy. Am J Epidemiol. 1986 Oct;124(4):633–642. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114436. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mathai M., Vijayasri R., Babu S., Jeyaseelan L. Passive maternal smoking and birthweight in a south Indian population. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1992 Apr;99(4):342–343. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1992.tb13736.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rubin D. H., Krasilnikoff P. A., Leventhal J. M., Weile B., Berget A. Effect of passive smoking on birth-weight. Lancet. 1986 Aug 23;2(8504):415–417. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92132-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rush D., Cassano P. Relationship of cigarette smoking and social class to birth weight and perinatal mortality among all births in Britain, 5-11 April 1970. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1983 Dec;37(4):249–255. doi: 10.1136/jech.37.4.249. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Taussig L. M., Wright A. L., Morgan W. J., Harrison H. R., Ray C. G. The Tucson Children's Respiratory Study. I. Design and implementation of a prospective study of acute and chronic respiratory illness in children. Am J Epidemiol. 1989 Jun;129(6):1219–1231. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115242. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Trichopoulos D. Passive smoking, birthweight, and oestrogens. Lancet. 1986 Sep 27;2(8509):743–743. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90253-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES