Green Tobacco Sickness

Green tobacco sickness is a type of nicotine poisoning that occurs while handling tobacco plants. Workers are at especially high risk for developing this illness when their clothing becomes saturated from tobacco that is wet from rain or morning dew, or perspiration.

Symptoms of green tobacco sickness include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches. Workers have also noted difficulty sleeping or eating. Symptoms of Green tobacco sickness may be similar to those of heat illness and pesticide poisoning, which can make it difficult to diagnose.

Learn More

The following is a list of resources published by NIOSH on this topic to help employers, workers, and health professionals identify and reduce risks for job-related green tobacco sickness:

• Green Tobacco Sickness in Tobacco Harvesters-Kentucky, 1992 (MMWR)
• Kentucky Cabinet for Human Resources, Frankfort, KY (Health Hazard Evaluation Report)
• Recommended Practice: Green Tobacco Sickness (fact sheet)
• Reducing the Impact of Green tobacco Sickness among Latino Farmworkers (Impact Sheet)

Search the NIOSHTIC-2 database to find additional occupational and safety health publications on this topic from NIOSH or a NIOSH supported project.