Hair nicotine concentration measurement in cats and its relationship to owner-reported environmental tobacco smoke exposure.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between hair nicotine concentration in cats and owner-reported exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Owner questionnaires documented exposure. Nicotine was extracted from hair by sonification in methanol followed by hydrophilic interaction chromatography with mass spectrometry. Relationships between hair nicotine concentration and owner-reported exposure were examined using hypothesis-testing statistics and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

RESULTS: The hair nicotine concentration of reportedly exposed cats was significantly higher than unexposed cats and groups of cats with different levels of exposure had significantly different median hair nicotine concentrations corresponding to exposure. A hair nicotine concentration of 0·1 ng/mg had a specificity of 98% (95% confidence interval: 83 to 100) and a sensitivity of 69% (95% confidence interval: 54 to 84) for detecting environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Outdoors access, coat colour, urban or rural environment and length of time living with the owner were not obviously associated with hair nicotine concentration.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Feline hair nicotine concentration appears strongly associated with owner-reported environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Feline hair nicotine concentration could therefore be used as a biomarker for tobacco smoke exposure, allowing future studies to assess whether exposed cats have an increased risk of specific diseases.