(Press-News.org) Researchers at University of California San Diego analyzed cannabis smoking practices in San Diego County to assess whether in-home smoking was associated with cannabis detection in children. The study, published in the Jan. 23, 2025, online edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, found that in-home cannabis smoking increased the odds of child exposure to cannabis smoke.
Smoking is the most common method of cannabis use and is known to generate emissions that are harmful to those exposed. Cannabis is often smoked indoors, putting non-smokers such as children at risk for exposure.
“While the long-term health consequences of cannabis smoke are not yet well known, cannabis smoke contains carcinogens, respiratory irritants, and other harmful chemicals,” said John Bellettiere, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego. “In our analysis, the odds of detectable cannabis in children were five times higher in households with reported in-home cannabis smoking. This exposure to toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens, could have long-term health effects in these children.”
The research team analyzed in-home cannabis smoking practices in San Diego County to quantify the relationship between in-home cannabis smoking and cannabis biomarker detection in resident children’s urine. The youngest child in each of the 275 households enrolled in the study was tested, at a median age of three years.
Investigators found that among households reporting in-home cannabis smoking, 69% had a child with detectable cannabis biomarker levels compared to 24% in households not reporting in-home cannabis smoking. Because a large percentage of participants were recruited from low-income households enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program from 2012 through 2015, findings of the study are not necessarily generalizable to the broader U.S. population, cautioned Bellettiere.
“As young children spend most of their time at home, reducing in-home cannabis smoking could substantially reduce their exposure to the toxic and carcinogenic chemicals found in cannabis smoke,” said Osika Tripathi, Ph.D., M.P.H., a recent graduate of the UC San Diego – San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health.
“As evidence regarding the health effects of cannabis grows, adopting strategies from the tobacco control playbook, such as comprehensive smoke-free laws and policies, could safeguard children’s health,” continued Bellettiere. “Determining the long-term health risks of second-hand cannabis smoke exposure is the absolutely essential next step.”
The study was funded, in part, by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (grant # R01HL103684), the National Institutes of Health (grant #T32HL079891-11, grant #T32 GM084896), the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (awards # T31KT1501, #T33PC6863, #T32PT6244, #T32PT6042 and #T32IR5208), the National Cancer Institute (#K01 CA234317), the San Diego State University/ UC San Diego Comprehensive Cancer Center Partnership (#U54 CA132384 and #U54 CA132379), and the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Advancing Minority Aging Research at UC San Diego (#P30 AG059299).
# # #
END
Smoking cannabis in the home increases odds of detectable levels in children
Reducing in-home cannabis smoking could substantially reduce children’s exposure to cannabis smoke, which contains toxic chemicals including known carcinogens
2025-01-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Ohio State astronomy professor awarded Henry Draper Medal
2025-01-23
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Adam Leroy, a professor of astronomy at The Ohio State University, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Henry Draper Medal.
The oldest medal awarded by the National Academy of Sciences, the Henry Draper Medal celebrates those who have made “a recent, original investigation in astronomical physics, of sufficient importance and benefit to science to merit such recognition.” It is awarded every four years.
Leroy’s work was selected for pathbreaking efforts that have characterized, “in unprecedented detail, the physical ...
Communities of color face greater barriers in accessing opioid medications for pain management
2025-01-23
Non-white communities had significantly less access to opioid medications commonly prescribed for moderate to severe pain than white communities over the decade beginning in 2011, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.
The findings, published Jan. 23 in Pain, stretched across all socioeconomic groups, and suggest that communities of color may be especially vulnerable to the unintended consequences of efforts to reduce unsafe use of opioid analgesics.
From 2011 to 2021, prescription opioid use dropped by about 50% ...
Researchers track sharp increase in diagnoses for sedative, hypnotic and anxiety use disorder in young adults
2025-01-23
The prevalence of diagnosed disorders from recurrent use of sedative, hypnotic and antianxiety medications in adolescents and young adults has increased sharply since 2001, according to Rutgers Health researchers.
Their study, published in Addiction, examined diagnoses of these disorders in adolescents and young adults between 2001 to 2019.
Sedative, hypnotic and antianxiety medications are used to treat a variety of conditions, including sleep and anxiety disorders. According to Harvard Health, consistent use of these drugs can lead to a higher tolerance for their effects, meaning patients require higher doses to achieve the intended effects.
For ...
Advancement in DNA quantum computing using electric field gradients and nuclear spins
2025-01-23
A recent study by researchers from Peking University demonstrates the potential of nuclear electric resonance to control the nuclear spins of nitrogen atoms in DNA using electric field gradients, thereby achieving artificial intervention to manipulate DNA for computation. Utilizing molecular dynamics simulations, quantum chemical computations and theoretical analyses, the research reveals how electric field gradient orientation patterns vary with DNA bases and nitrogen atom sites, encoding genetic and structural information into the direction of nitrogen nuclear spins. The research was published Dec. 12 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner ...
How pomalidomide boosts the immune system to fight multiple myeloma
2025-01-23
“It has been postulated that the clinical benefit of adding POM results from enhanced immunocompetency.”
BUFFALO, NY - January 23, 2025 – A new editorial was published in Oncoscience’s Volume 12 on January 14, 2025, titled “Pomalidomide improved immune profiles in myeloma."
The editorial by researchers Hannah Seah, Vaishnavi Reddy Bade, Lakshmi Bhavani Potluri, Srikanth Talluri, and Rao H. Prabhala from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, VA Boston Healthcare System, and Harvard Medical School, discuss how the drug pomalidomide (POM) can help improve the immune system ...
PREPSOIL webinar explores soil literacy among youth: Why it matters and how educators can foster it
2025-01-23
The PREPSOIL project, a pivotal initiative within the EU's Mission Soil framework, will host an engaging webinar on February 13, 2025, focusing on the importance of soil literacy among young people. The event highlights the vital connection between young citizens and soil health, offering educators innovative ways to integrate soil-related topics into their curriculum.
As part of the Mission Soil's eight goals, increasing soil literacy across Member States aims to foster greater awareness, involvement, and proactive behavior toward soil health. By embedding soil health education in school curriculums, the initiative seeks to empower the next generation to take informed ...
Imagining the physics of George R.R. Martin’s fictional universe
2025-01-23
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2025 – Many science fiction authors try to incorporate scientific principles into their work, but Ian Tregillis, who is a contributing author of the Wild Cards book series when he’s not working as a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, took it one step further: He derived a formula to describe the dynamics of the fictional universe’s viral system.
In independent research published in the American Journal of Physics, from AIP Publishing, Tregillis and George R.R. Martin derive a formula for viral behavior in the Wild Cards universe.
Wild Cards is a science fiction series written by a collection of authors and ...
New twist in mystery of dinosaurs' origin
2025-01-23
The remains of the earliest dinosaurs may lie undiscovered in the Amazon and other equatorial regions of South America and Africa, suggests a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.
Currently, the oldest known dinosaur fossils date back about 230 million years and were unearthed further south in places including Brazil, Argentina and Zimbabwe. But the differences between these fossils suggest dinosaurs had already been evolving for some time, pointing to an origin millions of years earlier.
The new study, published in the journal Current Biology, accounted for gaps in ...
Baseline fasting glucose level, age, sex, and BMI and the development of diabetes in US adults
2025-01-23
About The Study: The results of this retrospective cohort study of 44,000 individuals suggest that fasting plasma glucose level, age, body mass index (BMI), and male sex were all associated with development of diabetes, with significant interaction between these variables. These data contribute to understanding the clinical course of diabetes and highlight the substantial individual variation in diabetes risk according to commonly measured clinical variables. The findings facilitate lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions to treat those at highest risk of diabetes to reduce future morbidity and mortality. Further work is needed to validate this risk ...
Food insecurity in pregnancy, receipt of food assistance, and perinatal complications
2025-01-23
About The Study: In this cohort study, food insecurity in pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of perinatal complications, and these associations were overall attenuated to the null among individuals who received food assistance in pregnancy. These findings support clinical guidelines of screening for food insecurity in pregnancy and provide evidence to expand food assistance programs that may help improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Rana F. Chehab, PhD (Rana.Chehab@kp.org) and Yeyi ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained
Less intensive works best for agricultural soil
Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation
Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests
Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome
UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership
New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll
Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025
Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials
New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age
Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker
Chips off the old block
Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia
Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry
Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19
Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity
State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections
Young adults drive historic decline in smoking
NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research
Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development
This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack
FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects
A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions
AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate
Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative
Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine
[Press-News.org] Smoking cannabis in the home increases odds of detectable levels in childrenReducing in-home cannabis smoking could substantially reduce children’s exposure to cannabis smoke, which contains toxic chemicals including known carcinogens