Skip to main content
Log in

Evaluation of nicotine, cotinine, thiocyanate, carboxyhemoglobin, and expired carbon monoxide as biochemical tobacco smoke uptake parameters

  • Published:
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

In a cross-sectional study on 236 individuals in Japan (174 males, 62 females; 149 smokers, 87 non-smokers) plasma nicotine (pnic), cotinine (pcot) and thiocyanate (pSCN), urinary creatinine ratios of nicotine (unic), cotinine (ucot) and thiocyanate (uSCN) as well as carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) and expired carbon monoxide (COex) were determined. All tobacco smoke uptake parameters (TSUP) were significantly elevated in smokers as compared to non-smokers. The discriminant power (smokers vs non-smokers) rank in the following order: ucot ∼ pcot ∼ unic > pSCN ∼ COHb ∼ pnic > COex ∼ uSCN. All parameters except for pnic are significantly correlated with the self-reported number of cigarettes smoked per day. The reason for the poor correlation of pnic with daily cigarette consumption is the short half-life of pnic coupled with the arbitrary time of blood drawing in relation to the last time of smoking.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Adlkofer F, Scherer G, von Hees U (1985) Passive smoking — letter to the editor. N Engl J Med 312:719–720

    Google Scholar 

  2. Aviado DM (1984) Carbon monoxide as an index of environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Eur J Resp Dis [Suppl 133] 165:47–60

    Google Scholar 

  3. Benowitz NL, Hall SM, Herning RI, Jacob III P, Jones RT, Osman AL (1983) Smokers of low-yield cigarettes do not consume less nicotine. N Engl J Med 309:139–142

    Google Scholar 

  4. Biber A, Scherer G, Hoepfner I, Adlkofer F, Heller WD, Haddow J, Knight GJ (1987) Determination of nicotine and cotinine in human serum and urine: an interlaboratory study. Toxicol Lett 35:45–52

    Google Scholar 

  5. Borgers D, Junge B (1979) Thiocyanate as an indicator of tobacco smoking. Prev Med 8:351–357

    Google Scholar 

  6. Butts WC, Kuehnemann M, Widdoson GM (1974) Automated method for determining serum thiocyanate to distinguish smokers from nonsmokers. Clin Chem 20:1344–1348

    Google Scholar 

  7. Creighton DE, Lewis PH (1978) The effect of different cigarettes on human smoking patterns. In: Thornton RE (ed) Smoking behaviours. Physiological and psychological influences. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh London New York, pp 289–300

    Google Scholar 

  8. Feyerabend C, Levitt T, Russel MAH (1975) A rapid gas liquid chromatographic estimation of nicotine in biological fluids. J Pharmacol 27:434–436

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gori GB, Lynch CJ (1985) Analytical cigarette yields as predictors of smoke bioavailability. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 5:314–326

    Google Scholar 

  10. Herning RI, Jones RT, Benowitz NL, Miners AH (1983) How a cigarette is smoked determines blood nicotine levels. Clin Pharmacol Therap 33:84–89

    Google Scholar 

  11. Higashi E, Sashikuma F, Itani S, Muranaka H (1986) Simultaneous determination of nicotine and cotinine in urine by gas liquid chromatography. Eisei Kagaku 32:276–280

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hill P, Haley NJ, Wynder EL (1983) Cigarette smoking: carboxyhemoglobin, plasma nicotine, cotinine and thiocyanate vs self-reported smoking data and cardiovascular disease. J Chron Dis 36:439–449

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jarvis MJ, Russell MAH (1984) Measurement and estimation of smoke dosage to non-smokers from environmental tobacco smoke. Eur J Resp Dis [Suppl 133] 65:68–75

    Google Scholar 

  14. Komasawa T (1984) In: Komasawa T (ed) A basis for medical statistics. Asakura Shoten, Tokyo, pp 56–58

    Google Scholar 

  15. Matsukura S, Taminato T, Kitano N, Seino Y, Hamada H, Uchihashi M, Nakajima H, Hirata Y (1984) Effects of environmental tobacco smoke on urinary cotinine excretion in non-smokers. N Engl J Med 311:828–832

    Google Scholar 

  16. Matsumoto T, Tomita H, Tanida T, Muranaka H (1982) Assessment of smoking degree by expired CO analysis. Sci Pap Cent Res Inst Jpn Tob Salt Public Corp 124:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  17. Muramatsu M, Umemura S, Okada T, Tomita H (1984) Estimation of personal exposure to tobacco smoke with a newly developed nicotine personal monitor. Environ Res 35:218–227

    Google Scholar 

  18. Muranaka H, Tamada T (1979) Microdetermination of nicotine and its metabolites in biological fluid. 1. A fundamental investigation on gas chromatography equipped with high sensitive nitrogen detector. Jpn J Clin Chem 8:338–345

    Google Scholar 

  19. Muranaka H, Tamada T (1980) Microdetermination of nicotine and its metabolites in biological fluid. 2. A study on extraction method of nicotine and cotinine in plasma and its application. Jpn J Clin Chem 9:290–299 290-299

    Google Scholar 

  20. Pojer R, Whitfield KB, Poulos V, Eckhard IF, Richmond R, Hensley W (1984) Carboxyhemoglobin, cotinine, and thiocyanate assay compared for distinguishing smokers from non-smokers. Clin Chem 30:1377–1380

    Google Scholar 

  21. Rickert WS, Robinson JC (1981) Estimating the hazards of less hazardous cigarettes. II. Study of cigarette yields of nicotine, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide in relation to levels of cotinine, carboxyhemoglobin, and thiocyanate in smokers. J Toxicol Environ Health 7:391–403

    Google Scholar 

  22. Royal College of Physicians of London (1984) Health or smoking? Follow-up report of the Royal College of Physicians, passive smoking, pp 72–81

  23. Russell MAH, Jarvis M, Iyer R, Feyerabend C (1980) Relation of nicotine yield of cigarettes to blood nicotine concentrations in smokers. Br Med J 280:972–976

    Google Scholar 

  24. Russell MAH, Jarvis MJ, Feyerabend C, Salojee Y (1986) Reduction of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide intake in low tar smokers. J Epidemiol Commun Health 40:80–85

    Google Scholar 

  25. Salojee Y, Vesey CJ, Cole PV, Russell MAH (1982) Carboxyhemoglobin and plasma thiocyanate complementary indicators of smoking behaviour? Thorax 37:521–525

    Google Scholar 

  26. Surgeon General Report (1979) The health consequences of smoking. US Dept of Health and Human Services, Wash DC

    Google Scholar 

  27. Vesey CJ, Salojee Y, Cole PV, Russell MAH (1982) Blood carboxyhemoglobin, plasma thiocyanate, and cigarette consumption: implications for epidemiological studies in smokers. Br Med J 284:1516–1518

    Google Scholar 

  28. Vogt TM, Selvin S, Widdowson GM, Hurley SB (1977) Expired air carbon monoxide and serum thiocyanate as objective measures of cigarette exposure. Am J Publ Health 67:545–549

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Dr. Muranaka, the chief author of this paper, was the director of our hospital. He died suddenly on 18 April 1986. This article is therefore the last monument to be planned and achieved under the late Dr. Muranaka's direction.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Muranaka, H., Higashi, E., Itani, S. et al. Evaluation of nicotine, cotinine, thiocyanate, carboxyhemoglobin, and expired carbon monoxide as biochemical tobacco smoke uptake parameters. Int. Arch Occup Environ Heath 60, 37–41 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409377

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409377

Key words

Navigation