Table 1 Biological samples collected for nicotine and metabolite (NM) measurement and their rationale for collection in response to the research question
Biological sample | Rationale for collection |
|---|---|
Maternal venous blood | - indicates recency of maternal nicotine exposure [62] |
Umbilical vein cord blood | - indicates nicotine placental transfer (and foetal exposure) from the maternal circulatory system |
Umbilical artery cord blood | -indicates foetal nicotine excretion via the circulatory system (and return to the mother) |
Amniotic fluid | - demonstrates foetal nicotine exposure directly through the amniotic membrane, and foetal nicotine excretion via the foetal kidneys and lungs [11, 63,64,65] |
Maternal urine | - indicates maternal nicotine excretion via urinary system [3] |
Neonatal urine | - comparison of Day 1 and Day 3 urine with umbilical vein and umbilical artery cord bloods may demonstrate neonatal nicotine absorption, metabolism and excretion [18] |
Colostrum and/or breast milk | - indicates nicotine excretion and possible route of post-birth nicotine exposure [66, 67] |