Is ETS Exposure Causally Related to Adverse Neurodevelopment?
The studies outlined in Table 1 suggest that ETS exposure to the mother during pregnancy or to the child during postnatal development may be related to small adverse effects on neurodevelopment or behavior. In particular, three studies (25,26,33) reported poorer academic performance either as measured by school progress or by achievement test scores in relation to paternal, maternal, or household smoking as reported at the time of the follow-up during childhood; however, only one of these studies adjusted for the potential contribution of in utero maternal active smoking (25). Seven studies examined the relationship of postnatal exposure to smoke and performance on a range of cognitive, perceptual, central auditory, and linguistic abilities (27,29,34-38). Of the six studies that controlled for prenatal maternal smoking (27,34-38), half (27,36,37) show clear decrements associated with postnatal ETS exposure. Also, two of these studies (27,36) suggest that the children of mothers who smo
