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CHILD tobacco pickers in Malawi are being regularly exposed to extremely high levels of nicotine poisoning, according to a new report by international children’s organisation Plan.

The report ‘Hard work, little pay and long hours’ reveals that child labourers, some as young as five, are suffering severe physical symptoms from absorbing up to 54 milligrams a day of dissolved nicotine through their skin - the equivalent of 50 average cigarettes*.

As the tobacco industry continues to shift its production to developing countries, more vulnerable children are being exposed to these hazardous working conditions. It is estimated that over 78,000 children work on tobacco estates across Malawi – some up to 12 hours a day, many for less than 1pence (1.7US cents) an hour and without protective clothing.

In Plan's participatory research, children also revealed the physical, sexual and emotional abuse they suffer and spoke about the need to work under these exploitative conditions to support themselves, their families and pay school fees. They reported common symptoms of Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS), or nicotine poisoning, including severe headaches, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, coughing and breathlessness.

"Sometimes it feels like you don’t have enough breath, you don’t have enough oxygen. You reach a point where you cannot breathe because of the pain in your chest. Then the blood comes when you vomit. At the end, most of this dies and then you remain with a headache," one child said.  

Everyday symptoms of GTS are more severe in children than adults as they have not built up a tolerance to nicotine through smoking and because of their physical size. There is a lack of research into the long term effects of GTS in children, but experts believe that it could seriously impair their development.

“Numerous animal studies have shown that administration of nicotine during infancy and adolescence produces long-lasting changes in brain structure and function, as well as behavioral changes that are not seen when nicotine is administered to adults,” says Neal Benowitz, Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Biopharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, San Francisco. “The brain of a child or adolescent is particularly vulnerable to long lasting adverse neurobehavioral effects of nicotine exposure.”

Professor Marty Otanez of the University of Colorado has done extensive research into child labour and tobacco farming in Malawi and welcomes Plan’s research: “This is an important issue that the international community and tobacco companies cannot ignore any longer.”

Plan is now calling upon all responsible parties to live up to their commitments: the government to rigorously enforce existing child labour and protection laws; plantations to provide safer, fairer working conditions for those children forced to work and multinational tobacco companies to scrutinise their suppliers far more closely and strictly adhere to their own corporate responsibility guidelines.

“This research shows that tobacco estates are exploiting and abusing children who have a right to a safe working environment. Plan is calling for better enforcement of child labour laws and harsher punishment for employers who break them,” says Mcdonald Mumba, Plan Malawi’s Child Rights Advisor.

“These children are risking their health for 11p ($0.17) a day and multinational tobacco companies, who profit vastly from child labour, need to take a more active responsibility for their involvement.”

ENDS

*  Average nicotine levels per cigarette vary by brand and country. Common nicotine levels in medium strength brands range from 0.6 to 1.5 mg per cigarette. European Union 2002 Tobacco Product regulations set maximum nicotine levels at 1mg per cigarette.

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Contact:

For photos or to arrange an interview with Plan Australia CEO, Ian Wishart.

David Cook, Plan Australia Media Officer
03-9672-3652 | 0448 816 900

Editor’s Notes:

Global Tobacco Production

70% of Malawi’s export income comes from tobacco and the country is economically dependent on it. Three quarters of tobacco production has now shifted to developing countries and Malawi is the world’s 5th biggest producer. Tobacco farms in America saw an 89% decline between 1954 and 2002

Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS)
Green Tobacco Sickness is a common hazard of workers coming into contact with tobacco leaves and absorbing nicotine through their skin, particularly when harvesting. It is made worse by humid and wet conditions, which are prevalent in Malawi, as residual moisture on the leaves helps nicotine be absorbed quicker.

Tobacco Companies
Multinational companies buy the majority of Malawi’s burley tobacco.  This low-grade, high-nicotine tobacco is often used as a filler in cigarettes across Europe and North America.

Experts available for interview:

• Mcdonald Mumba, Plan Child Rights Advisor, Malawi
• Glynis Clacherty, Author of Plan’s report ‘Hard work, long hours and little pay’
• Professor Neal Benowitz, Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Biopharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, San Francisco, believes that studies in animals show that children could suffer long term damage from nicotine poisoning.
• Professor Marty Otanez, Assistant Professor, Anthropology Department of University of Colorado.
• Professor Marty Otanez has done extensive research into child labour, multinational tobacco companies and tobacco farming in Malawi.
• Henry Spiller, Director Kentucky Regional Poison Center, co-author of ‘Green Tobacco Sickness in Children & Adolescents.’