A Clinic-Based, Case-Control Comparison of Green Tobacco Sickness Among Minority Farmworkers: Clues for Prevention

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arcury TA ; Garcia DI ; Norton D ; Preisser JS Jr. ; Quandt SA ; Rao P
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Green tobacco sickness (GTS) is a highly prevalent occupational illness among tobacco workers. Working in wet tobacco is a major risk factor for GTS. Little is known about preventing GTS. This analysis examines possible GTS preventive measures. METHODS: Data were collected from 36 patients with GTS and 40 controls who presented at clinics in eastern North Carolina in 1999 and 2000. Each participant completed an interview that included questions about their personal characteristics, work characteristics, and GTS risk factors. RESULTS: Participants were Mexican men. Those with GTS were much less likely to have worn rain suits while working in wet tobacco and more likely to be in the United States on a work contract. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing a rain suit while working in wet tobacco can significantly reduce the risk of GTS among tobacco workers. Care must be taken that farmworkers do not have heat stress from wearing rain suits. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Demography Farmers Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Race Factors Safety Safety Management Tobacco Products Workplace
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-workers Demographic-characteristics Injuries Occupational-diseases Occupational-health Qualitative-analysis Racial-factors Safety-measures Safety-practices Tobacco Tobacco-industry Work-environment Worker-health Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  0038-4348
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  95
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029480
• Citation:
  South Med J 2002 Sep; 95(9):1008-1011
• Contact Point Address:
  Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1084
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment And Workforce: Special Populations
• Performing Organization:
  Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19980930
• Source Full Name:
  Southern Medical Journal
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:24d81009b52e792eaa0d98b72a235d650bc58c4f73abac3e01a60e3cd2c7af417c65be7b207b05debdf27ce4aa3bbd6f6d78f6e506bfa98f8272e336922399a7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190446/cdc_190446_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 25.57 KB ]