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Comparative Study
. 2008 Oct-Dec;14(4):257-62.
doi: 10.1179/oeh.2008.14.4.257.

An epidemiologic study comparing fetal exposure to tobacco smoke in three Southeast Asian countries

Enrique M Ostrea Jr  1 , Esterlita Villanueva-Uy, Sopapan Ngerncham, Luephorn Punnakanta, Melissa J P Batilando, Pratibha Agarwal, Elizabeth Pensler, Melissa Corrion, Erwin F Ramos, Joshua Romero, Ronald L Thomas
Affiliations
Comparative Study

An epidemiologic study comparing fetal exposure to tobacco smoke in three Southeast Asian countries

Enrique M Ostrea Jr et al. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2008 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

The high prevalence of smoking in Southeast Asia (SEA) means pregnant women face exposure to tobacco smoke that may affect the health of their fetus. This study determined fetal exposure to tobacco smoke by meconium analysis for cotinine in 3 locations in SEA: Bulacan Province, Philippines (N=316), Bangkok, Thailand (N=106) and Singapore City (N=61). Maternal exposure to tobacco smoke was 71.1% (1.3% active; 69.8% passive) in Bulacan, 57.5% (0.9% active; 58.6% passive) in Bangkok and 54.1% (11.5% active; 42.0% passive) in Singapore. Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke (by meconium analysis) was 1.3% (Bulacan), 4.7% (Bangkok) and 13.1% (Singapore); however, a large proportion of infants who tested positive for cotinine (65%) were born to mothers who gave no history of either active or passive exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke is a major health problem.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: The authors report no conflict of interest.

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