Assessment of Nicotine Dermal Contact and Urinary Cotinine of Tobacco Processing Workers
Pornpimol Kongtip PhD*, Amornchai Trikunakornwong MS**, Suttinun Chantanakul MD*, Witaya Yoosook PhD*, Preecha Loosereewanich PhD*, Piangchan Rojanavipart PhD***
Affiliation : * Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Faculty of Public Health, Centre for Environmental Health, Toxicology and Management of Chemicals (ETM), Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand ** Narcotic Analysis and Technical Service Institute, Office of the Narcotics Control Board, Ministry of Justice, Bangkok, Thailand *** Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : To assess the dermal contact of nicotine dust, subjective symptoms and urinary cotinine of post
curing tobacco workers.
Material and Method: 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.
Results : 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).
Conclusion : The nicotine residue on hands could be used as an indicator of occupational nicotine dust
exposure which might affect the health of tobacco workers.
Keywords : Nicotine, Cotinine, Tobacco dust, GC/MS
