Exposure to tobacco smoke increases the presence of heavy and toxic metals in children’s saliva.
- Researchers have found a link between heavy metal levels in children’s saliva and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
- This is additional data proving that passive smoking is harmful to the health of children.
- Electronic cigarette smoke is also – to a lesser extent – harmful to children.
In France, another million people are exposed to passive smoking and it causes 3,000 to 5,000 deaths per year, according to the Ministry of Health. According to a new study published in the journal Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiologyexposure to tobacco smoke increases levels of heavy metals, such as lead, in children’s saliva.
Some children still too exposed to passive smoking
“The impact of heavy metals on health depends on their chemical species, their concentration, their bioavailability and their passage through the food chains, can we read on the website of the French environmental health association. Some elements have no role in maintaining the body’s homeostasis and are directly toxic, such as mercury, lead or cadmium.”
In this study, the researchers wanted to measure the impact of tobacco smoke on children’s saliva. “Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemical compounds, most of which are harmful to humans, says Lisa Gatzke-Koppthe principal investigator of this study. While the increase in tobacco control policies and awareness of the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), (also called second-hand smoke, which is produced by a person’s cigarette, cigar or pipe), have reduced exposure to ETS in recent years, some children continue to experience levels of extremely high exposure.”
During their work, the researchers therefore studied the data of 238 children aged at most 7 and a half years. They measured the levels of cotinine (a substance related to nicotine) and metals present in the saliva of these young participants.
High levels of heavy and toxic metals in children’s saliva
Results: Those with higher cotinine levels also had higher levels of heavy metals in their saliva.
Scientists believe that these results show the risks of second-hand smoke and therefore passive smoking for the health of children. In parallel, researchers have taken an interest in vaping and have also observed the presence of metals in the smoke of electronic cigarettes, which means that it could, in the event of passive smoking, also be harmful for children.
The researchers point out that saliva tests could, in the future, be a tool for monitoring the health of children. Nevertheless, for this, they emphasize the need to establish maximum and normal thresholds of levels of metals that can be present in saliva.