Non-smoking pregnant women and their fetuses are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke as a result of living in multiunit housing

This study investigates whether pregnant women and their fetuses are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ets) as a result of living in apartments. we measured cotinine concentrations in serum, a biomarker of exposure to ets, in non-smoking women’s umbilical cord blood collected at delivery and in maternal blood drawn shortly after delivering a baby. concurrently, information was collected regarding the women’s housing situation, whether family members or co-workers smoked, and other potential exposure factors. newborns whose non-smoking mothers lived in an apartment during pregnancy were more than three times (or 3.17, 95% ci 1.62–6.21) more likely to have detectable levels of cotinine in their cord blood serum than babies whose mothers lived in a detached house. there is a strong association between detectable concentrations of cotinine in cord blood serum and living in an apartment, even after adjusting for confounders, such as exposure at home or at work. a similar association was observed between the detectable levels of cotinine in maternal serum and living in an apartment (or 1.95, 95% ci 1.03–3.71).