Title: Firsthand or Secondhand, Smoke Imperils Fetus

Author:

Section/SPIG: Maternal and Child Health

Issue Date:

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Cigarette smoking and being exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy are equally likely to cause permanent genetic mutations in the fetus, according to a New York Times article published Aug. 2, 2005. Reporting on a new study by Stephen G. Grant, PhD, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh, the article said that babies born to [a] active smokers, [b] women who were exposed to secondary smoke during pregnancy, and [c] women who quit smoking when they found out they were pregnant, all had similar and significant increases in gene mutations. The mutations were found by examining umbilical cord blood.

According to the report, a woman who quits smoking when she discovers she is pregnant is more likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke because she is likely to continue to socialize with friends and family who smoke and to frequent places where others continue to smoke, thinking that exposure to other smokers is not serious.

Grant told the Times that his findings have significant implications for public health policy. If secondhand smoke does as much damage as smoking, then it may be essential to protect pregnant women and women who intend to become pregnant by banning smoking in the workplace and other public spaces. Moreover, people should probably be barred from smoking anywhere in the presence of a pregnant woman.

The citation for Grant’s study is: Grant, SG. Qualitatively and quantitatively similar effects of active and passive maternal tobacco smoke exposure on in uteromutagenesis at the HPRTlocus. BMC Pediatrics 2005, 5:20 doi:10.1186/1471-2431-5-20. June 29, 2005.