The Incidence of Green Tobacco Sickness Among Latino Farmworkers
Author: Arcury, Thomas A.
Date Published: 2001
Green tobacco sickness (GTS) is an occupational illness that affects agricultural workers involved in the cultivation and harvesting of tobacco. Today, most hand cultivation and harvesting in the United States are being done by Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers. In other tobacco-producing regions of the world, those who cultivate and harvest tobacco also have limited power and economic resources. It is vitally important for occupational and environmental health and justice research to delineate the health burden of tobacco cultivation. In this article, we report the results from the first prospective surveillance study of GTS among migrant and seasonal farmworkers. We report the general prevalence and incidence of GTS among farmworkers in eastern North Carolina, delineate changes in GTS incidence over the course of a production season, and identify the risk factors associated with the incidence of GTS among these workers.
Date Published: 2001
Green tobacco sickness (GTS) is an occupational illness that affects agricultural workers involved in the cultivation and harvesting of tobacco. Today, most hand cultivation and harvesting in the United States are being done by Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers. In other tobacco-producing regions of the world, those who cultivate and harvest tobacco also have limited power and economic resources. It is vitally important for occupational and environmental health and justice research to delineate the health burden of tobacco cultivation. In this article, we report the results from the first prospective surveillance study of GTS among migrant and seasonal farmworkers. We report the general prevalence and incidence of GTS among farmworkers in eastern North Carolina, delineate changes in GTS incidence over the course of a production season, and identify the risk factors associated with the incidence of GTS among these workers.
