Association between Second-hand Smoke Exposure and Urinary NNAL Level in Korean Adolescents

The 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) is a metabolite of tobacco-specific lung carcinogen that can be found in both smokers and non-smokers. Particularly, NNAL levels of children with a history of exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) are higher than those of adults. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between SHS exposure and urine NNAL levels in Korean adolescents.

This cross-sectional study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII. Overall, 648 never-smoking adolescents (425 boys and 223 girls) aged 12 to 18 were included in this study. Logistic regression analyses identified the relationship between SHS exposure and elevated urine NNAL levels.

The mean urine NNAL levels of the no exposure and exposure group in boys were 1.39 and 2.26 ng/mL, respectively, whereas they were 1.01 and 2.45 ng/mL in girls, respectively (P < 0.001). Among the adolescents exposed to SHS, the confounder-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for elevated urine NNAL levels according to exposure area as overall, home, and public area were 2.68 (1.58-4.53), 31.02 (9.46-101.74), and 1.89 (1.12-3.17) in boys; and 6.50 (3.22-13.11), 20.09 (7.08-57.04), and 3.94 (1.98-7.77) in girls, respectively.

SHS exposure was significantly associated with elevated urine NNAL levels in Korean adolescents, particularly in female adolescents and in those with home exposure. These findings remind us of the need to protect adolescents from SHS.