Chemicals from cigarettes found in babies

Leicester, England -- A British study says chemicals from secondhand cigarette smoke have been found in infants who live with smokers.

Traces of the chemical cotinine, a chemical released when the body breaks down nicotine, is more abundant in urine samples from smokers' babies than from non-smokers' children, WebMD said Wednesday.

Dr. Mike Wailoo, a senior lecturer in the child health department of England's University of Leicester, said the babies of parents who smoked had cotinine levels more than five times higher than babies of non-smoking parents.

The effects of cotinine on infants is not known, WebMD said.

The researchers said maternal smoking quadrupled the babies' cotinine levels. Paternal smoking nearly doubled the levels.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.