Public Facility Utility and Third-Hand Smoking Exposure without First and Second-Hand Smoking According to Urinary Cotinine Level

Si Yun Moon, Tae Won Kim, Yoon-Ji Kim, Youngki Kim, Se Yeong Kim and Dongmug Kang
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Si Yun Moon: Department of Premedicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Gyongnam 50612, Korea
Tae Won Kim: Department of Premedicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Gyongnam 50612, Korea
Yoon-Ji Kim: Department of Preventive, and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Gyongnam 50612, Korea
Youngki Kim: Department of Preventive, and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Gyongnam 50612, Korea
Se Yeong Kim: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Gyongnam 50612, Korea
Dongmug Kang: Department of Preventive, and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Gyongnam 50612, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Third-hand smoke (THS) causes pathological changes in the liver, lungs, and skin. THS exposure can be ubiquitous, chronic, and unconscious. However, little is known about THS exposure in public facilities and its susceptible population. This paper aimed to identify which public facilities and socio-demographic groups were especially vulnerable to THS. Data from 1360 adults obtained from Korean National Environmental Health Survey I (2009–2011) were analyzed. To study the sole effect of THS, we restricted the study population to those participants who had never smoked and who had no exposure to second-hand smoke. The assessed variables included the type and frequency of public transportation, frequency of use of 12 different public facilities, and 8 socio-demographic factors. Urinary cotinine was used as a biomarker. T -tests and analysis of variance were used for univariate analyses, while generalized linear regression was used for multivariate analysis. Frequent use of public transportation, bars, internet cafés, and participants with low levels of education, divorced or bereaved, living in multi-unit houses, and with smokers within the family were associated with significantly high urinary cotinine levels. These findings indicate that the frequent use of public transportation, certain public facilities and certain socio-demographic factors can result in high THS exposure.

Keywords: third hand smoke; tobacco; transportation; susceptible; environmental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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