Tobacco Residue Passed to Children via Breast Milk

Tobacco Residue Passed to Children via Breast Milk

Exposure to the chemicals in tobacco smoke during infancy is associated with increased risks of asthma, sudden infant death syndrome and other serious health complications. A study involving 330 mother-infant pairs examined the degree to which breast-feeding and cigarette smoking contributed to infant exposure to the products of tobacco smoke.

Urine specimens were obtained from infants by the age of 12 months and analyzed to determine levels of cotinine (a by-product of nicotine). Cotinine levels were six times higher in infants whose mothers smoked and bottle-fed compared with infants of nonsmokers (who either bottle-fed or breast-fed their child). Tobacco levels were 84 times higher in infants whose mothers smoked and breast-fed.

These findings provide further evidence of the profound dangers of cigarette smoking. Women who smoke place themselves and their children at risk, and this risk is substantially elevated if mothers breast-feed their children. Health care professionals should encourage mothers to stop smoking in the prenatal period and while breast-feeding.

Mascola MA, Van Vunakis H, Tager IB, et al. Exposure of young infants to environmental tobacco smoke: breast-feeding among smoking mothers. American Journal of Public Health, June 1998;88(6), pp893-96.