detail of gloved hand inspecting tobacco leaf

Green Tobacco Sickness

Our tobacco companies work to better educate and inform growers about Green Tobacco Sickness.

When working in tobacco fields, it's possible for growers and their workers to come in contact with wet tobacco. If workers are not properly protected, they can become sick if the nicotine in the tobacco plant is absorbed through the skin, a condition known as Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS).

Our contracts require growers to follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's recommended practices for preventing GTS, including making available recommended personal protective equipment (PPE). We also provide information on how to recognize signs of GTS and we require growers to train their workers annually on GTS. Compliance against these requirements is monitored through the GAPC Certification program.

We're working with growers on growing and harvesting tobacco safely, in compliance with all laws and regulations. In 2024, 100 percent of contracted growers completed Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training hosted by GAP Connections, a third-party organization focused on developing, maintaining and providing leadership for agriculture standards and practices in domestic tobacco production. We've taken additional steps to prevent GTS by:

Resources

  • distributing training materials to tobacco growers so they can educate their workers on preventing GTS;
  • requiring through our tobacco companies' contracts that growers implement the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's recommended practices for GTS prevention and provide worker training on how to avoid GTS and heat stress; and
  • implementing procedures to assess their adherence to these protocols.

 

For tobacco produced by growers overseas, we work with tobacco suppliers to promote and maintain Good Agricultural Practices among growers. This includes crop management, environmental management, labor management, and where applicable, GTS protocols.