Table 4.
Evaluation of 1, 3 and 10ng/mL nicotine, cotinine, hydroxycotinine (OH-cotinine), and norcotinine liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry cutoffson detection rates of oral fluid specimens collected from participants identified as smokers via A) self-report, B) breath carbon monoxide and C) saliva NicAlert a,b.
| A) Self-reported smokers (n=89) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicotine | Cotinine | OH-cotinine | Norcotinine | Nicotine alone | Cotinine alone | Nicotine & cotinine | Cotinine & OH-cotinine | Nicotine & cotinine & OH-cotinine | |
| ≥1.0ng/mL | 86 | 87 | 87 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 86 |
| Positive, % | 97% | 98% | 98% | 64% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1% | 97% |
| Range, ng/mL | 2.7–1330.0 | 24.7–985.0 | 2.4–454.0 | 1.2–77.6 | |||||
| ≥3.0ng/mL | 85 | 87 | 86 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 84 |
| Positive, % | 96% | 98% | 97% | 45% | 0 | 0 | 1.1% | 2.2% | 94% |
| ≥10ng/mL | 78 | 87 | 86 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 77 |
| Positive, % | 88% | 98% | 97% | 15% | 0 | 0 | 1.1% | 10% | 86% |
| B) Smokers identified by breath carbon monoxide >5ppm (n=86) | |||||||||
| ≥10ng/mL | 77 | 83 | 82 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 76 |
| Positive, % | 90% | 96% | 95% | 15% | 0 | 0 | 1.2% | 7.0% | 88% |
| C) Smokers identified by saliva NicAlert >10ng/mL (n=81) | |||||||||
| ≥10ng/mL | 60 | 68 | 66 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 59 |
| Positive, % | 74% | 84% | 82% | 6.2% | 0 | 1.2% | 1.2% | 8.6% | 73% |
a
OH-cotinine and norcotinine were never present without co-occurrence of nicotine or cotinine.
b
Nicotine and OH-cotinine were never found as the only analytes in a single specimen.