Tag: Secondhand smoke

With an average half-life of about 20 hours, cotinine remains in the body long after the parent compound, nicotine, has been cleared. This is why a person can test positive for cotinine even when a nicotine test is negative, and it reveals that you can get cotinine without nicotine present. The extended detection window makes cotinine a far more effective biomarker for assessing recent nicotine exposure than nicotine itself.

In 2007, 1.1% of US youth aged 12 to 13 reported using inhalants in the past month, a statistic that highlights the accessibility and dangers of these substances [1.6.7]. The question of *what will happen if you smell drugs* encompasses a wide range of scenarios, from accidental exposure to intentional abuse, each with vastly different risks.

While most people associate cotinine with tobacco use, a 2005 review in the *Encyclopedia of Toxicology* revealed that cotinine is also formed after the intake of certain vegetables from the Solanaceae family. This sheds light on the lesser-known sources of this nicotine metabolite, revealing that a positive cotinine test doesn't automatically mean exposure to tobacco smoke. Understanding what else has cotinine in it is crucial for interpreting health test results and recognizing all potential exposure pathways.