Exposure to nicotine and tobacco products during pregnancy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Maternal exposure to carcinogens, toxicants and nicotine during among e-cigarette users, smokers, nicotine replacement therapy users and ‘never smokers’ during pregnancy
IRAS ID
269631
Contact name
Michael Ussher
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George's University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Research Summary - Public Health England recommends that electronic cigarettes (ECs, i.e.vaping) are safer than traditional cigarettes, even in pregnancy, as they don’t contain many of the harmful substances in cigarettes and may help with stopping smoking. However, health professionals and pregnant women may be cautious about recommending or using ECs in pregnancy due to lack of detailed safety information. The main aim of the study is to measure toxins and cancer-causing substances in the urine of women who used to smoke and now just use ECs compared with women who just smoke. We will also measure these substances in those who smoke and use ECs, who used to smoke and now just use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT, e.g., patches), those who smoke and use NRT, and those who have never used tobacco/nicotine products. We will recruit 204 women. Pregnant women will be invited to take part when they attend a routine antenatal appointment at 8-13 weeks of pregnancy. If they agree to participate, at this appointment, they will be asked by a researcher to provide a urine sample (or we’ll use a routinely collected sample if available) and to complete a questionnaire (about themselves and use of nicotine/tobacco products, alcohol, cannabis). They will also be asked to blow into a device that measures exposure to tobacco smoke. They will then be asked to meet with the researcher again at a routine antenatal visit at 16-21 weeks of pregnancy, in order to repeat the assessments. Urine samples will be stored in a freezer and at the end of the study will be sent to an external laboratory for testing. The results will provide valuable information for women who are pregnant, for healthcare professionals who care for those women and for regulators, about the potential safety of using ECs during pregnancy.
Lay Summary - Health professionals and pregnant women are cautious about recommending or using vaping during pregnancy, due to lack of detailed safety information. The main aim of the study was to measure toxins (harmful chemicals) in the urine of pregnant women who used to smoke and now just vape compared with women who just smoke or women who have never vaped or smoked.We invited pregnant women to take part when they attended a routine antenatal appointment. If they agreed to participate, they were asked to provide a urine sample and to complete a questionnaire (about themselves and use of nicotine/tobacco products). We then tested their urine in a laboratory and assessed the levels of toxins.
We found that among former smokers who were vaping regularly, levels of most toxins were far lower than for individuals who were just smoking and were similar to those of women who had never smoked or vaped.
This study suggests that, among pregnancy women, vaping alone is likely to result in lower harmful chemicals than among smokers, and similar levels of chemicals to those who have never used either product. There may be exposure to other vaping chemicals that were not explored in this study. Studies are needed to assess the effects of vaping during pregnancy on pregnancy and birth outcomes and on infants.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1599
Date of REC Opinion
19 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion