Environmental Tobacco Exposure and Urinary Cotinine Levels in Smoking and Nonsmoking Adolescents.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the association between environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and urinary cotinine levels in current adolescent smokers and nonsmokers. The secondary objective was to explore the association between ETS exposure and nicotine dependence in adolescent smokers.

Methods: Using the results from a validation study for the 2012 Global Youth Tobacco Survey in Mexico, we quantified urinary cotinine levels in adolescent smokers and nonsmokers.