Tobacco Agriculture & Children

Tobacco Agriculture & Children
The use of child laborers in tobacco production is widespread in the major tobacco producing
countries including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malawi, the United States and
Zimbabwe.18 In Brazil, for example, some 520,000 children under the age of 18 work on tobacco
farms, 32 per cent of whom are younger than 14.19 Those companies (mostly foreign) that
purchase Brazil’s tobacco have reportedly asked that school schedules be rearranged so that
children would be available to work in the fields.20
Although the tobacco sector is not unique in its use of child labor, the rigors of working the
tobacco crop places the health and physical development of the children at risk and demands
urgent attention. The hazards to children begin during the preparation of the soil, where highly
toxic fumigants such as methyl bromide are often used to kill nematodes and other soil
organisms. During the course of cultivating the crop, children working in the tobacco fields are
directly exposed to a cocktail of highly toxic agro-chemicals. These chemicals -- which include
aldicarb, butralin, and endosulfan -- cause damage to eyes, skin, internal organs, and are
potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic. Exposure to these chemicals poses a considerably
higher risk to children than adults since exposure in the early years can lead to a greater risk of
cancer, damage to the child’s developing nervous system and cause immune system
dysfunction. 21
In addition, children picking tobacco have been reported to experience green tobacco sickness
(GTS), a type of nicotine poisoning which is caused by the absorption of nicotine through the
skin.22 GTS is characterized by symptoms that may include nausea, vomiting, weakness,
headache, dizziness, abdominal cramps, difficulty in breathing, as well as fluctuations in blood
pressure and heart rates. Researchers in the United States have found that moisture on
tobacco leaves greatly increases the severity of GTS because it enhances the absorption of
nicotine, a toxin, by the skin. Since harvesting often occurs under wet conditions, including
morning dew, avoiding exposure is difficult.23