Hooked at Birth
Dateline: 08/27/98
Many have strongly suspected it, and many think it's just plain common sense: smoking during pregnancy is an unacceptable risk. Should I smoke while pregnant? Won't the "baby barrier" protect my child? As millions of women ask themselves these questions, researchers have uncovered the first direct linkage that cancer causing substances found in cigarettes can be transmitted to the developing fetus.
Scientists found by-products of a substance called NNK, a derivative of nicotine in tobacco, in the urine of babies born to mothers who smoked. Not only did this demonstrate that the potent cancer causing-substance was being passed on to the child but that it was being metabolized and excreted in the urine.
Forty-eight newborns participated in the study. Using a sophisticated form of gas chromatography, the researchers found that almost seventy percent of the newborns born to smoking mothers had the NNK by-products in their urine. It was not found in any of the babies born to non-smoking mothers. However, similar studies have indicated that non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke in the workplace also have levels of NNK by-products in their urine.
Researchers noted that over half of all female smokers do not quit during pregnancy. Though previous studies have not drawn a determinate conclusion about the overall effects of smoking while pregnant, this study suggests definite causal links. Again, scientists indicate that further study is necessary before definite conclusions can be drawn. However, they do recommend that pregnant women quit smoking regardless of the final conclusions drawn after other studies are completed.
What do you think? On a public policy level, should we apply stricter controls on cigarette distribution? Should we raise cigarette taxes once again? On an individual level, what can we do to discourage pregnant women from smoking? Come over to the Biology Forum and share your thoughts, opinions, and feelings.
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