Measure B5: Concentrations of Cotinine in Blood of Children

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• In 2005-2006, median (50th percentile) levels of cotinine measured in non-smoking children were 81 percent lower than they were in 1988-1991.
• Cotinine values at the 90th percentile, representing the most highly exposed 10 percent of non-smoking children, showed a smaller relative decline (46 percent) from 1988-1991 to 2005-2006.
• Eighty-five percent of non-smoking children had detectable levels (at or above 0.05 nanograms per milliliter) of cotinine in 1988-1991.¹ Forty-nine percent of non-smoking children had levels at or above 0.05 nanograms per milliliter of cotinine in 2005-2006 (data not shown).
• The reduction in children’s cotinine levels is in part attributable to a decline in the percentage of adults who smoke. In 2006, an estimated 20.8 percent of adults were current smokers, down from 25.0 percent in 1993.²
• In 2003-2006, median concentrations of cotinine in blood for non-smokers were about 0.2 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) for Black non-Hispanic children, 0.07 ng/mL for White non-Hispanic children, and 0.03 ng/mL for Mexican-American children.

Related Measures:

• Environmental Tobacco Smoke
• Respiratory Illnesses

Healthy People 2010:

Objective 27-9 of Healthy People 2010 is to reduce the proportion of children who are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home.

1. D. M. Mannino, J. E. Moorman, B. Kingsley, D. Rose and J. Repace. 2001. Health effects related to environmental tobacco smoke exposure in children in the United States: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 155 (1):36-41.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2007. Cigarette smoking among adults—United States, 2006. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 56(44): 1157-1161.