TobacAlert

TobacAlert™ is a home test that provides you with a quick, accurate, on-the-spot determination of a person's level of exposure to tobacco products including second hand smoke.  It is not intended for medical use.

TobacAlert™ is an easy to use, fast and accurate urine test strip.  It can detect exposure to second hand smoke and the use of cigarettes, pipes, cigars, chewing tobacco.

TobacAlert™ measures levels of cotinine, a byproduct of the body's breakdown of nicotine, the active ingredient found in tobacco products and tobacco smoke. Cotinine is a widely accepted indicator of recent tobacco product use and exposure, including second hand smoke exposure.

Primary Uses

Detection of recent second hand smoke exposure. Potential users include parents of young children, workers in a smoky workplace and other persons concerned about the harmful effects of second hand smoke.

Detection, verification and monitoring of tobacco use status. Potential users include smokers trying to quit, parents worried about whether a teenaged child may be smoking, coaches, insurance companies and smoking cessation counsellors.

How it works

The end of the TobacAlert™ strip contains gold particles coated with an antibody that selectively binds to cotinine in the urine. After the end of the strip is dipped in urine, the gold particles migrate through specialized “traps” in the strip. The more cotinine bound to a gold particle, the further it is able to migrate along the strip. The reddish bands seen on the developed strip correspond to gold particles caught in a particular trap. TobacAlert™ is extremely sensitive and can measure amounts as low as 6 nanograms of cotinine per milliliter of urine (6 billionths of a gram in one fifth of a teaspoon).

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