Green tobacco sickness in Rio Grande do Sul and tobacco curing deforestation
Two reported harms of tobacco growing: nicotine poisoning among small farmers in southern Brazil, and wood burned to cure tobacco leaf in Africa. The sources reviewed give a prevalence figure for the first and an annual wood figure for the second; neither has been independently verified here.
Reported figure, not independently verified.
Status No dated status: the sources reviewed contain only unverified prevalence and wood-use figures and no ruling or regulatory action.
- Small tobacco producers in Dom Feliciano, Rio Grande do Sul — Green tobacco sickness found in 34.5% of 354 (reported, not independently verified). SciELO / UNISC (Cadernos de Saúde Pública)
What happened
The sources reviewed describe two separate matters linked by tobacco growing. The first is "green tobacco sickness" (doença da folha verde do tabaco), a form of nicotine poisoning absorbed through the skin from wet tobacco leaves. The second is the use of wood to cure tobacco leaf in Africa.
For Rio Grande do Sul, a study published through SciELO and UNISC in 2020 is cited as reporting the condition in 34.5% of 354 small producers in Dom Feliciano in 2011–2012. This figure is reported but not independently verified in the material reviewed.
For Africa, a Medicus Mundi compilation is cited as reporting that about 8.05 million tonnes of wood are burned each year to cure tobacco and that 69% of farmers in Tanzania clear new forest land each season. This figure is reported but not independently verified in the material reviewed.
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Reported to have found that 80% of suicides in Venâncio Aires were among farmers and that the rate rose with pesticide use (not independently verified).
Considers the link "inconsistent" (not independently verified).
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- Sinditabaco (industry association): Called the link between pesticide use and farmer suicides in Venâncio Aires "inconsistent" (reported, not independently verified).
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Figures
- Insufficient People affected: Green tobacco sickness, Dom Feliciano, Rio Grande do Sul, 2011–2012. Reported, not independently verified.
- Insufficient Wood burned tobacco curing: Africa, 2010s. Reported, not independently verified.
Accounts
- Disputed Is the rate of suicide among farmers in Venâncio Aires linked to pesticide use?
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: green tobacco sickness was found in 34.5% of 354 small producers in Dom Feliciano, Rio Grande do Sul, in 2011–2012 (SciELO / UNISC, 2020).
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: organophosphate poisonings were found in Candelária, Rio Grande do Sul.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a 1996 state legislature report stated that 80% of suicides in Venâncio Aires were among farmers and that the rate rose with pesticide use. The industry association Sinditabaco calls the link "inconsistent".
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in the integrated system in southern Brazil, companies supply seed, pesticides and technical support.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: about 8.05 million tonnes of wood are burned a year to cure tobacco in Africa, and 69% of Tanzanian farmers clear new forest land each season (Medicus Mundi compilation).
- None on record No source reviewed gives the area of forest cleared by tobacco curing, or a measurement of forest loss, for Rio Grande do Sul or Tanzania.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not record a court case, regulatory finding or company statement on either matter.
Did the harm stop?
The sources reviewed do not say whether either practice has stopped or been limited.
Who paid?
The sources reviewed describe small farmers as bearing the reported health effects; the sources reviewed give no costs or payments.
Sources
Communities and civil society
- Tobacco: the forest slayer (compilation)Medicus Mundi ·
Researchers
- Green tobacco sickness in Dom Feliciano, Rio Grande do Sul (study cited as C3-67)SciELO / UNISC (Cadernos de Saúde Pública) · 2020