Impact of tobacco control policies on exhaled carbon monoxide in non-smokers

Isabella Annesi-Maesano (1) , Severine Tual (1) , Jean-Pierre Piau (1) , Bertrand Dautzenberg (2) , Martin Jarvis (3)

1 Polytech'Paris-UPMC
2 CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP]
3 UCL - University College of London [London]

Background Passive smoking is a serious health risk in non-smokers. The strength of tobacco control policies of the EU countries vary. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between second-hand smoke exposure, as assessed by exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO), and the strength of national tobacco control policies, in non-smokers in the EU. Methods Data were provided from the EU campaign “HELP: for a life without tobacco” during national events settled in the 27 EU countries in 2006-2007. Individual information on age, gender, and eCO were obtained from 58,919 self-reported non-smokers. The strength of national tobacco control policies was scored by the Tobacco Control Scale (TCS). The relationship between eCO and TCS score was investigated using both an ecological and a multilevel approaches. Results Both analyses reported a significant linear decrease in eCO per unit increase in TCS score, with a smaller estimation resulting from the multilevel analysis (ß = -0.03 ppm, 95% CI: – 0.04-0.02 vs. 0.05 (0.02-0.08)). Conclusion Our study confirms, in a large European non-smoker population, the relevance of strong anti-smoking policies in reducing exposure to passive smoking. Our findings give further reason to encourage European countries to strengthen their tobacco control policies to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke.

Mots clés: PASSIVE SMOKING; PREVENTION PR

Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Severine Tual, Jean-Pierre Piau, Bertrand Dautzenberg, Martin Jarvis. Impact of tobacco control policies on exhaled carbon monoxide in non-smokers. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2010, 64 (6), pp.554. ⟨10.1136/jech.2008.086256⟩. ⟨hal-00557365⟩