A CONCERN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

THE cause of a mystery illness at a Waterford cigar plant, owned by
Imperial Tobacco, should not only be of concern to workers at the plant,
but also to the general public, especially with the disclosure that there
was a frightening level of mysterious birth defects and miscarriages among
women who worked in the Irish tobacco industry in the 1980s.

Some 50 workers at Cadena Ireland Ltd. were laid off in April after
succumbing to a mysterious illness, the symptoms of which included stomach
cramps, vomiting, headaches and skin irritation. In the 1980s there was an
unusually high level of miscarriages among the 30 women working at the
plant. More than a dozen of them gave birth to children with serious
defects such as heart disease, lack of kidneys and brain damage. Female
workers in the former Kofnar tobacco plant in Roscommon also reported
alarmingly high levels of miscarriages.

It is now known that two toxins used in pesticides sprayed on tobacco
leaves were the cause of problems for pregnant women. American scientists
believe that dangerous toxins were also the likely cause of the recent
health problems. It would seem on this evidence that handling tobacco can
be as hazardous to health as smoking it.