I am currently collaborating on an international assessment of second hand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure to women and children in 23 countries. Jon Samet is the PI and my laboratory is doing the analysis of hair (biological marker) and airborne nicotine samples. We are attempting to collect samples from 40 women and children (80 samples all together) from each country. The goals of this study are:

To characterize airborne concentrations of SHS in homes with smokers in multiple countries;

To characterize average level of nicotine in women and children;

To identify factors related to the differences in SHS levels;

To generate locally relevant data to support tobacco control policies; and

To generate a global profile of SHS exposure among women and children and estimate the associated health risks.

We hope to finish this assessment by the end of 2006.