Pesticide Exposure: The Occupational Hazard That Tobacco Farmers Can't Escape
Tobacco farmers are exposed to pesticides at levels that would be illegal in high-income countries. The exposure causes acute and chronic health effects. Pesticide poisoning is an occupational hazard of tobacco farming that is almost entirely unaddressed.
In Malawi, tobacco farmers apply pesticides without protective equipment—no gloves, no masks, no training. Acute pesticide poisoning—headaches, nausea, respiratory distress—is common. Chronic effects—neurological damage, cancer—are suspected but unstudied. **Pesticide exposure is an occupational hazard of tobacco farming that is invisible to the global health surveillance system. The farmers who produce the crop are exposed to chemicals that are restricted or banned in the countries where the crop is consumed.**
