QUESTIONNAIRE ASSESSMENTS OF RECENT EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO-SMOKE IN RELATION TO SALIVARY COTININE

The increasing evidence of the ill-health effects of environmental tob acco smoke (ETS) has prompted the search for accurate measures of expo sure to ETS. The present study examined whether it was possible to enh ance the ability of questionnaire-derived assessments of ETS exposure, to predict salivary cotinine. Salivary samples were obtained from 258 nonsmoking bank employees, who simultaneously answered questions deta iling their exposure to second-hand smoke within the last three days. Exposure models were created, to take into account the number of smoke rs nearby, length of time in their presence, half-life of cotinine in bodily fluids, level of aversion to cigarette smoke and time of year. All models, including the consideration of intensity and duration of e xposure combined, explained an equal amount of variance of log cotinin e levels approximately 16%). The weak relationship between questionnai re estimates of ETS exposure and cotinine, found in the present study, suggests that further investigation is needed to improve the assessme nt of recent ETS exposure.