Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan
J Occup Health, 2003 May;45(3):140-5.
PMID: 14646288

Abstract

To assess dermal absorption of nicotine from tobacco leaves in relation to Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS), urinary cotinine concentrations were measured in 80 male tobacco-growing farmers and in 40 healthy males (controls) who did not handle wet tobacco leaves in Kelantan, Malaysia. Among non-smokers, urinary cotinine levels in farmers were significantly higher than those of controls; farmers with urinary cotinine of 50 ng/ml/m2 or above showed eye symptoms more frequently than those below this level (p<0.05). Farmers who did not wear protective equipment had subjective symptoms more frequently than those who used the equipment (p<0.05); some of these symptoms were seen more frequently in organophosphate (Tamaron) users than in non-users. As tobacco farmers evidence a risk of nicotine poisoning from tobacco leaves, assessment including GTS together with effects of pesticides will be necessary.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.