Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Exposure, Health Effects, and Analysis

Abstract

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, and 44 compounds have been classified as human carcinogens. Toxicity can be both mainstream smoke as well as the constituents of environmental tobacco smoke. In the light of this evidence, work is intensifying on assessing exposure on the basis of the results of tests performed to quantify the amounts of suitable environmental tobacco smoke constituent biomarkers in samples of biological materials taken from humans. The authors present information on the composition of tobacco smoke and its toxicity to humans, and also data on the methodologies applicable in the analysis of biological material samples for their biomarker content.

KEY WORDS:

• analytical methods
• biological fluids
• biomarkers
• environmental tobacco smoke
• exposure to tobacco smoke