Second-hand smoke riskier for black children: study

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Black children may be far more susceptible to the ill effects of second-hand tobacco smoke than their white counterparts, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

In a study of 220 children with asthma, black children who were exposed to at least five cigarettes a day had significantly higher toxin levels in their hair and blood than white children who were exposed to the same amount of smoke.

The study, published in the March issue of the journal Chest, may shed light on why black children are more susceptible to tobacco-related disorders, like asthma, sudden-infant death syndrome and low birth weight, said Dr. Stephen Wilson of the University of Cincinnati, who led the research.

"For some reason, African-American children may metabolize or break down nicotine ... more slowly than white children," Wilson said in a telephone interview.

Wilson and colleagues at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center tested children aged 5 to 12 for levels of cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine that has been processed by the body. Slightly more than half of the children, 55 percent, were black. The rest were white.

Researchers collected blood and hair samples for a year. To avoid any underreporting of tobacco exposure by parents, researchers measured levels of tobacco smoke in the home at six months and 12 months using an instrument called a nicotine dosimeter.

While nicotine exposure levels in the home were similar, researchers found that black children showed significantly higher levels of cotinine compared to white children.

On average, cotinine levels in blood samples collected from black children were 32 percent higher than the white participants.