Haze Still Surrounds Green Tobacco Sickness

Assessment of Urinary Cotinine as a Marker of Nicotine Absorption from Tobacco Leaves: A Study on Tobacco Farmers in Malaysia

“…GTS is characterized by nausea, vomiting, weakness, prostration and dizziness, and occasionally by fluctuation in blood pressure or heart rate . Headache, increased salivation, abdominal cramps, difficulty in breathing, abdominal pain, and diarrhea have also been reported in recent studies of GTS [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] . As GTS symptoms usually disappear rapidly (in 2-3 d), treatment is not always necessary, but symptoms are so severe in some cases that administration of dimenhydrinate (an antihistaminic and antiemetic agent) is required 7) .…”

“…As nicotine is a water-soluble alkaloid 23) and liquates from leaves or sap to the dew on leaves 4) , working in wet conditions is considered to increase the risk of GTS [20][21][22] . Smoking status is considered to decrease the risk of GTS by increasing tolerance for nicotine 2,5,11) , though some studies have pointed out that this tolerance would be no longer protective when customary nicotine intake was exceeded 12,16) .…”