Assessment of Third Hand Smoke Exposure in a Subset of College Students Using Salivary Cotinine Levels
Latha Athikari, Seema Patil, Devopratim Biswas, R Shriyanka, Usha Jambunath, Ekta JainAbstract
Background:
Dental students may be at risk of third-hand smoke (THS) exposure due to the high prevalence of smoking among peers and use of public facilities. In India, research on THS has largely been conducted on assessment of knowledge and attitude with minimal studies determining exposure.
Objective:
The study aimed to assess THS exposure in dental students by measuring salivary cotinine levels. The difference in cotinine levels based on place of residence, use of public transport, visit to public spaces, presence of close contacts who smoked and detection of cigarette smoke odor in their surroundings was assessed.
Methods:
Saliva was collected in 100 non-smoking dental students with no second-hand smoke exposure and subjected to cotinine detection with the help of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.
Results:
Salivary cotinine was detected in all the participants, with levels ranging from 2.56 to 56 ng/mL (mean = 18.2 ng/mL). Students who used public transport (
Conclusion:
Multicentric studies and stricter inclusion criteria would provide a more reliable assessment of THS exposure among dental college students.