Assessment of nicotine dermal contact and urinary cotinine of tobacco processing workers.

Abstract

To assess the dermal contact of nicotine dust, subjective symptoms and urinary cotinine of post curing tobacco workers. Dermal hand wipes of residual nicotine dust samples, morning urine samples and subjective symptoms were collected from 30 workers. The hand-wipe samples and urine samples were analyzed for nicotine and cotinine by a GC/MS, respectively. The average amount of nicotine on the hands of workers was 0.24 microgram/cm2, while the average urinary cotinine concentration of workers was 3.08 microgram/ml. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between nicotine residue on hands and urinary cotinine excretion at r = 0.978, p < 0.05. There was also a significant relationship between the occupational related nicotine residue on hands and the number of subjective symptoms reported (p < 0.05). The nicotine residue on hands could be used as an indicator of occupational nicotine dust exposure which might affect the health of tobacco workers.