Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology
-
One of the major effects of cigarette smoking during pregnancy is bearing a child with lower birth weight. It has previously been demonstrated under experimental conditions in rats that exposure to reference cigarette smoke results in reduced birth weight (E. L. ⋯ Exposure to a mixture of aldehydes (acrolein, acetaldehyde, and formaldehyde) had no effect on either maternal body weight gain or fetal weight. Exposure to mixtures of nicotine and CO or nicotine, CO, and aldehydes did not demonstrate any interactions. The results of this study suggest that the observed reduction in fetal weight after exposure to cigarette smoke in rats is due to CO toxicity and not nicotine toxicity.