Home Cannabis Smoke Leaves Traces in Children’s Urine Tests

TOPLINE:

Children living in households with reported in-home cannabis smoking show five times higher odds of having detectable tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) equivalents in their urine than those without exposure. Among 275 children studied, 27.3% had detectable urinary cannabinoids.

METHODOLOGY:

• A cross-sectional analysis included 275 children (mean age, 3.6 years) from San Diego County, California, households with resident tobacco smokers and children under age 14 years.
• Researchers measured in-home cannabis smoking through parent/guardian reports, air particle monitoring, and ascertained daily cannabis smoking events through residualization adjusting for air nicotine and other activities.
• Analysis examined levels of THC and its major metabolites in children’s urine samples, with biomarker molar equivalents summed to represent total THC equivalents.
• Logistic regression assessed associations between in-home smoking and cannabis biomarker detection, while linear regression evaluated smoking association with urinary THC equivalents among children with detectable levels.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among the 275 participants, 29 households (10.6%) reported in-home cannabis smoking, with 75 children (27.3%) showing detectable urinary cannabinoids.
• The odds of detecting THC equivalents in children’s urine were significantly higher in households with reported in-home cannabis smoking (odds ratio [OR], 5.0; 95% CI, 2.4-10.4).
• Each additional ascertained daily cannabis smoking event was associated with increased odds of detecting cannabis biomarkers (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.6-3.9).
• For children with detectable urinary cannabinoids, increased daily parental cannabis smoking events showed a nonsignificant trend toward higher THC equivalent levels (increase per event, 35.68%; 95% CI, −7.12% to 98.21%).

IN PRACTICE:

“Research on cannabis lags more than 50 years behind that of tobacco due to restrictive policies and regulations around cannabis research. There are limited data assessing long-term cannabis smoking health effects, and even fewer assessing SHCS [secondhand cannabis smoke] exposure effects…As evidence regarding the health effects of cannabis grows, adopting strategies from the tobacco control playbook — for example, comprehensive smoke-free laws and policies for homes, vehicles, workplaces, and public spaces prohibiting indoor use at all times — could safeguard children’s health,” wrote the authors of the study.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Osika Tripathi, PhD, San Diego State University School of Public Health in San Diego. It was published online on January 23 in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

In-home cannabis smoking could be underreported due to social desirability bias, particularly as nonmedical cannabis use was illegal in California during data collection (2012-2016). The study’s focus on households with tobacco smokers may have increased the proportion of in-home cannabis smoking in the cohort. The convenience sampling predominantly recruited participants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and Hispanic ethnicity, potentially limiting the generalizability of prevalence estimates. Detection of cannabinoids could also result from thirdhand smoke exposure or smoking mothers breastfeeding their child, factors not assessed in the study.

DISCLOSURES:

The study received funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, and the National Cancer Institute. Additional disclosures are noted in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.