Assessment of nicotine inhalation exposure and urinary cotinine of tobacco processing workers.

Objective: To study the composition of tobacco dust, atmospheric nicotine concentration, urinary cotinine excretion and the subjective symptoms of workers in dry tobacco leaf preparation.

Material And Method: The tobacco dust in air of the breathing zone of workers and the urine samples of these workers and a comparison group were collected and analyzed by GC/MS. The accuracy, precision and detection limit of the methods were determined.

Results: The tobacco dust contained nicotine and atrazine (a herbicide). The average atmospheric nicotine was 0.105 mg/m3 and urinary cotinine concentrations of post tobacco curing process workers was 3.084 microgram/ml. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the atmospheric nicotine dust and urinary cotinine excretion (r = 0.987, p < 0.05). The health symptoms of headache, nausea, weakness, dizziness, and increased perspiration reported among workers had a significant relationship with the job characteristics of the post tobacco curing process workers, with a p-value < 0.05.

Conclusion: Nicotine dust contained a herbicide called atrazine. Nicotine concentrations were highest in the post tobacco curing process where workers reported a lot of adverse symptoms. Urinary cotinine can be used as a biomarker of tobacco dusts' exposure in dry tobacco leave preparation areas.