Can Life Insurance Test For Tobacco? 
Yes , when you take an exam as part of the life insurance application process , the lab will test for the presence of cotinine in blood , urine and/or saliva . Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine that lasts longer than nicotine so can be detected longer , and is a more accurate measure of smoking activity . If you take a policy that does not require a paramed exam , no such test will be done . The application usually asks if the applicant has used tobacco in the past year , and if the company orders medical records , they could find out about smoking that way . 