Analysis of Markers of Exposure to Constituents of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)

Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4000 chemical compounds, many of which are harmful to human health. These compounds belong to various chemical classes, including amides, imides, lactams, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, phenols, amines, hydrocarbons, ethers, and inorganic compounds. There are three types of tobacco smoke streams: the mainstream, the sidestream, and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). In view of the threat to human health resulting from exposure to either of these tobacco smoke streams or to ETS, it has become necessary to monitor levels of substances characteristic of tobacco smoke, i.e., “biomarkers,” The biomonitoring of toxic substances involves the analysis of biological materials taken from human subjects (urine, saliva, placenta, sweat, blood) for the presence of selected biomarkers. This article presents information on sample preparation techniques and analytical methodologies applicable in the analysis of biological materials for the presence of biomarkers and also on the levels of biomarkers present in samples of biological material taken from people exposed to various degrees to the harmful actions of substances present in tobacco smoke.