Abstract
Urine specimens were collected from 75 pregnant women before childbirth and from their newborns within 48 postnatal hours. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to determine urinary nicotine and its metabolites, cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine (OH-cotinine) to objectivise prenatal smoke exposure. Using the sum ofnicotine metabolites as a marker, 34 women were classed as not exposed to smoke (< 15 nmol/l), 18 as passive smokers (15-400 nmol/l), and 23 as active smokers (> 400 nmol/l). The newborns of active smokers exhibited significantly (P < 0.001) higher nicotine metabolite concentrations than did those of either non-exposed women or passive smokers. A close correlation was found to exist between maternal and neonatal nicotine and cotinine concentrations
