PHY2.A Environmental tobacco smoke: Percentage of children ages 4–17 with specified blood cotinine levels by age, selected years 1988

Characteristic	1988–1994	1999–2000	2001–2002	2003–2004	2005–2006	2007–2008	2009–2010
Ages 4–17
Total
Any detectable cotinine at or above 0.05 ng/mL	87.4	64.2	52.6	61.1	48.9	50.0	39.6
Blood cotinine above 1.0 ng/mL	23.7	16.9	16.1	17.1	11.6	15.3	9.0
Ages 4–11
Total
Any detectable cotinine at or above 0.05 ng/mL	87.7	64.4	55.1	63.7	51.4	52.6	41.7
Blood cotinine above 1.0 ng/mL	25.7	17.7	18.1	18.7	12.3	16.7	9.4
Ages 12–17
Total
Any detectable cotinine at or above 0.05 ng/mL	87.0	63.9	49.6	57.9	46.0	47.0	37.2
Blood cotinine above 1.0 ng/mL	21.1	16.0	13.6	15.0	10.8	13.7	8.4
NOTE: Cotinine levels are reported for nonsmoking children only. "Any detectable cotinine" indicates blood cotinine levels at or above 0.05 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), the detectable level of cotinine in the blood in 1988–1994. The average (geometric mean) blood cotinine level in children living in homes where someone smoked was 1.0 ng/mL in 1988–1994¹ and in 2003–2006.²
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
¹ Mannino, D.M., Caraballo, R., Benowitz, N., and Repace, J. (2001). Predictors of cotinine levels in U.S. children: Data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. CHEST, 120, 718–724.
² Marano, C., Schober, S.E., Brody, D.J., and Zhang, C. (2009). Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure among children and adolescents: United States, 2003–2006. Pediatrics, 124(5): 1299–1305.