Intensive tobacco cultivations, a possible public health risk?

Abstract

The cultivation of tobacco has serious consequences for the environment: it impoverishes the soil by assimilating its nutrients, it involves an intensive use of highly polluting pesticides, it perturbs the ecosystem through deforestation, and it releases nicotine into the environment, which is toxic for humans. Italy is the first producer of raw tobacco in Europe and the Valtiberina area is among the most profitable. The first cultivations can be reconducted to the period around 1400. The objective of this experimental work is to verify the sustainability of tobacco cultivation near other crops using nicotine as an indicator. The nicotine on medicinal and wild plants adjacent to tobacco crops has been analyzed, assessing whether it is present or not and which is the concentration. To measure the nicotine present with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), LC/MS (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) method was used with LOQ (quantification limit) of 0.005 mg/kg. A total of 300 lots of aromatic herbs were sampled, and nicotine was detected in 82.3% of the samples in 2015 and 62.9% in 2016. Furthermore, in 2015, 121 samples of wild material were analyzed, of which 88.4% showed traces of nicotine. These first results indicate a possible potential threat for the population health. This shows that the tobacco cultivation should not be in close proximity to other plantation destined for nutrition, neither for man and nor animals. The elevated impact of nicotine on the ecosystem has negative consequences not only for the economy but it is also a potential public health threat.

The Overview of Green Tobacco Sickness Among Tobacco Farmers in Jember District, Indonesia

“…Tobacco cultivation reduces soil fertility through the absorption of nutrients, involves intensive use of highly polluting pesticides, disturbs the ecosystem through deforestation, and releases nicotine into the environment, which is toxic to humans (Masanotti, Abbafati, Petrella, Vinciguerra, & Stracci, 2019). The main toxic substances found in tobacco leaves are alkaloids, nicotine and its metabolites, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as benzopyrene (Bonamonte et al, 2016;Matthes & Zatoński, 2019).…”

Unintended Consequences of Antismoking Pricing Policies: Insights from Smokers’ Household Expenditure on Smoking Behavior and Public Health

“…This interest stems, inter alia, from policymakers' understanding of the connection between reducing tobacco consumption and promoting sustainability. This connection between smoking cessation and sustainability is evident in societal health and environmental considerations [23]. At the societal level, smoking cessation contributes to healthier communities by reducing smoking-related illnesses and supporting society's overall well-being.…”

“…In terms of environmental considerations, both the production and consumption of tobacco carry substantial consequences. Tobacco cultivation frequently leads to deforestation and the extensive use of pesticides [23,26]. Regarding consumption, while tobacco product smoke emissions are relatively lower than pollutants from, for example, energy consumption, they occur in close proximity to the population and are, therefore, profoundly harmful [27].…”

“…We also control for the ethnicity of the household head-Arab or Jewish in the present case-because ethnicity is expected to affect household behavior, e.g., [58]. Finally, following prior studies indicating the effect of socio-economic status on smoking behavior, e.g., [23,51], we controlled for the location of the household in a peripheral area of the country (yes/no) and in a low-ranking socio-economic status area of residence (yes/no).…”

Main Poisonous and Allergenic Plant Species in Sicilian Gardens and Parks: Applications and Recommendations for Use

“…The dosage of the active compounds is one of the most random variables because it varies in the plant depending on the organ, season and environmental conditions [8]. Similarly, the presence of multiple bioactive compounds in plant organs can lead to combination interactions, synergy or additivity [9,10].…”