Tobacco chewers paint the country with 1.564 million tones of saliva they spit per annum. Majority of tobacco chewers spit on the roads, pavements, footpaths and corners of staircases or any lonely corner, even in some offices behind the cupboards. In many public places flower-pots placed near the entrances are being painted by Tobacco chewers and gradually the plant affected dies.
For our sample survey we selected 100 betel shops of varying status and in different localities in Udaipur and Kota cities of Rajasthan. The shop owners were questioned. After thorough interrogation with shop owners we found that 33.723% tobacco chewers take tobacco with betel, 10.538% take Gutka with betel nut and other masalas and 55.73% take tobacco with Chuna (Lime) only.
Fifty persons who take tobacco with Pan or Gutka or simply with lime in both the cities were persuaded and with each intake of tobacco their discharged saliva was collected in already weighed plastic bags. The bags were again weighed with saliva and after deducting the weight of the bag the actual weight of saliva was calculated. Simultaneously samples were also collected from various shops in both cities as well as from individuals for the quantity of tobacco a single man consumes with each intake. It was found that an average tobacco chewer consumed 0.36 gm of tobacco per intake.
According to Tambaku Vikas Nideshalaya, Government of India, 35 million kg of Chewable tobacco was processed in India in the year 1983 and according to a rough estimate 34 million kg of tobacco was consumed in India during the year 1983.
Average spit of a person who takes tobacco with betel is 39.55 gm per intake and for Gutka is 13.7 gm per intake. For sample Gutka, i.e. tobacco with lime only, the average spit is 3.2 gm per intake. When the data was compiled, eye-opening results emerged. We found that every year tobacco chewers spit about 1.564 million tones.
The magnitude of this pollution is very high and it is a major health hazard in the country. Immediate steps should be taken to curb this pollution.
Published in Limca Book of Records:
Limca Books of Records 1996 pp 209: Conducted a survey to ascertain the quantity of spit being spat by tobacco chewers in India every year.