Agriculture and Environment: Tobacco

Environmental Impacts of Production: Pollution from Agrochemicals

Tobacco is a delicate plant that is prone to many diseases and pests.

Some management guides call for as many as 16 applications of pesticides during the three-month growing period before the plants even leave the greenhouse (Goodland et al.1984).

Highly toxic chemicals used
The list of chemicals that are recommended includes some with toxicity levels that are quite high. In developing countries, chemicals that are commonly used include aldicarb (Temik), aldrin, butralin, endosulphan, chlorpyrifos, 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone), dieldrin, and DDT (Tobacco Free Kids 2001).

Methyl bromide, causing ozone depletion
A common soil fumigant that is used in tobacco production in developing countries is methyl bromide. It is also used to sterilise greenhouses (Watts 1998). This substance is a significant contributor to ozone depletion.

Serious risk to workers
High doses of herbicides and pesticides can be dangerous to workers and to the environment. These chemicals can cause damage to eyes, skin, and internal organs, and are potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic.

Exposure to these chemicals poses a considerably higher risk to children than adults, since exposure in the early years can lead to greater risk of cancer as well as damage to the development of children's nervous and immune systems.

This is particularly worrisome since more and more children are working in tobacco fields as production shifts into developing countries. The tobacco companies and leaf buyers often work with local schools to insure that school schedules allow children to work in the fields (Tobacco Free Kids 2001).

Water contamination
Runoff and leaching of these chemicals pollute waterways, affecting people who use those as a water source and harming freshwater biodiversity as well. Aquifers can also become contaminated, which in turn contaminates any wells that tap into these aquifers.

Impacts on local wildlife
Tobacco fields can provide both food and cover for wildlife. However, that puts the wildlife at risk from pesticides. Insecticides are usually highly toxic to wildlife, while most fungicides and herbicides are only slightly toxic. Birds made sick by insecticides may neglect their young, abandon their nests, and become more susceptible to predators and disease.

Many pesticides and herbicides that are not highly toxic can still be harmful to wildlife by reducing the food and cover that they need to survive or by contaminating water supplies. Runoff can decrease the aquatic foods necessary to the survival of aquatic animals (Barry 1991).