non-smoking adults become much less exposure to secondhand smoke than they were - but children are still plenty. That's one of the conclusions of a report published by the US Centers today for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which documents the levels of exposure to environmental chemicals. The study did not examine the effects of chemicals on health.
The first CDC report on environmental chemicals, published 2 years ago, suggested that efforts to curb secondhand smoke have paid off in the general population ( Science NOW, March 21, 01). In this study, the researchers measured the levels of 27 chemicals - including cotinine, a marker of tobacco smoke - in samples of blood and urine of 3,800 people participating in the CDC National Center for General health Statistics survey of health in the United States. . Today's progress report expands the list of 116 chemicals and breaks the volunteer population groups by age, race and gender
In the case of cotinine, the breakdown revealed an essential difference: the children have twice the cotinine levels than adults, the study found. Indeed, continine levels in adults have decreased by 75% since the early 190s, but only 58% in children. Secondhand smoke is associated with sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, and respiratory infections, says Richard Jackson, deputy director of science for CDC. "If we had to choose something really go after, it would be that I would say is extraordinarily high priority, and something people can actually do something," says Jackson.
The report also reveals that some old bugbears are still hanging around. Although the pesticide DDT was banned in the US in 1973, a chemical called DDE, formed when DDT breaks down, showed adolescents who were born in the 1980s. the study also found that Mexican Americans had DDE levels three times higher than nonHispanic white or black Americans - perhaps due to exposure to agricultural jobs or Mexico, where DDT is banned but is probably still used, said Jackson. CDC does not know, however, how DDE levels observed to have an impact on health, Jackson said.
the report is "a wonderful addition" to what scientists familiar American exposure to environmental chemicals, says Linda Birnbaum, director of the division of environmental toxicology environmental protection Agency. "It can help us understand the improvements we've made, that our regulations have made," she said. It also gives a reference point for future studies, she said.
Related Sites
Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
Statement of Public Health on DDT and DDE of
Agency toxic substances and disease Registry
American Chemistry Council statement on the CDC report
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