Cotinine Levels and Green Tobacco Sickness Among Shade Tobacco Workersx

Abstract

Migrant workers in Connecticut who harvest shade-tobacco appear to have a low-risk of occupational nicotine dermal absorption and a low incidence of GTS. The work practices associated with harvesting shade-tobacco, in addition to the fact that shade tobacco may actually have a lower level of nicotine than either burley or flue cured tobacco, may explain these results. Our study appears to reinforce the GTS prevention recommendations made by investigators in other tobacco growing regions, specifically the importance of minimizing close skin contact with tobacco leaves and avoiding dermal contact with the plants when they are wet.

Health risks in tobacco farm workers—a review of the literature

“…Shade tobacco leaves, which are grown e.g. in Connecticut, USA, are used as wrappers for premium cigars and are therefore harvested more carefully and mostly under dry conditions-limiting workers' exposure to nicotine (Trapé-Cardoso et al 2005). Air-, fire-and flue-cured tobacco originally grown in Virginia, USA, is referred to as Virginia tobacco (bright leaf).…”

“…While Quandt et al (2000) defined GTS as any general illness after exposure to tobacco leaves and Gosh et al (1979) as any neurological and/or respiratory complaints in tobacco farm workers, other used more specific definitions (e.g. Arcury et al 2002;Gehlbach et al 1974;Trapé-Cardoso et al 2005).…”

“…In contrast to other types of tobacco, shade tobacco is harvested more carefully, skin exposure to the tobacco plant is much more limited and harvest under wet conditions is avoided because of the decreased quality of the picked leaves (Trapé-Cardoso et al 2003;Trapé-Cardoso et al 2005).…”

NIOSH skin notation (SK) profile: nicotine [CAS No. 54-11-5].

“…Among tobacco farmers, contact with green tobacco leaves has been observed to produce green tobacco sickness (GTS), defined as "acute nicotine poisoning due to the transdermal absorption of nicotine," with symptoms including dizziness, headache, nausea, and vomiting [Arcury et al 2003]. GTS is a selflimiting condition from which workers typically recover within 1 to 3 days [Gehlbach et al 1974;Ballard et al 1995;McBride et al 1998;Arcury et al 2003;Trape-Cardoso et al 2005]. The incidence of GTS in tobacco farmers varies with climate and season, with estimates of incidence ranging from 15 to 53% [Ghosh et al 1986;Trape-Cardoso et al 2003].…”

Avaliação da vestimenta-padrão utilizada durante a colheita das folhas do tabaco e implicações na prevenção da Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS)

“…O Brasil tem grande importância no cenário mundial de produção de tabaco 4,6 , mas ainda são poucas as publicações científicas brasileiras relacionadas com a ocorrência e a prevenção da GTS em nosso país 3,6,7 . De maneira geral, são escassas as publicações que apresentam informações sobre a eficácia das ações propostas e/ou adotadas para prevenção da GTS 2,8-10 diante dos inúmeros artigos publicados mostrando a sua ocorrência [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . Desses estudos que avaliaram medidas de proteção, três 2,9,10 analisaram o uso de luvas ou a lavagem das mãos como medidas para diminuir o contato e a consequente absorção da nicotina, e apenas um investigou uma vestimenta (capa de chuva emborrachada) na prevenção efetiva da absorção da nicotina 8 .…”