A Tobacco Control Policy & Legal Resource Center
Supporting Smokefree Air & Tobacco-Free Lives

Just 13, and Working Risky 12-Hour Shifts in the Tobacco Fields

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On September 6, 2014, the New York Times published a story on children as tobacco farm laborers at United States tobacco farms, and the serious working conditions and negative health effects of exposure to the raw tobacco leaf.

Because federal law and regulations do not define tobacco field work as hazardous, it remains permissible for workers under age 18. Federal law also does not limit on the number of hours her day that children 12 years and older can work on a farm.