{"id":466242,"date":"2023-01-24T16:31:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T19:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=466242"},"modified":"2023-02-08T18:53:51","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T21:53:51","slug":"pesticides-can-affect-the-health-of-agricultural-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/pesticides-can-affect-the-health-of-agricultural-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Pesticides can affect the health of agricultural workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Headaches, tachycardia, fatigue, dizziness, irritation of the mucous membranes, blurred vision, cramps. Approximately 90% of family farmers surveyed in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Ub\u00e1, Rio de Janeiro State, in 2014 and 2015, frequently suffered at least one of these symptoms, as well as others identified as resulting from acute pesticide poisoning. In addition to analyzing symptoms of acute and chronic poisoning in this community, the researchers who carried out the study, from the Department of Environmental Health of the School of Public Health at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (FSP-USP), also examined the mental and respiratory health of the 78 participants. Almost half of them had between four and nine symptoms of acute intoxication and a quarter had more than four chronic symptoms, such as sleep disturbances, irritability, and difficulty concentrating and reasoning. The region was Rio de Janeiro\u2019s second largest producer of tomatoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgrochemical applicators, who are usually men, and their assistants, who are usually women, are exposed to high levels of these substances from a very young age,\u201d said the study designer Rafael Buralli, a doctor of public health from USP. The research resulted in four scientific articles and was the subject of Buralli\u2019s doctoral thesis. He is now a technical consultant for the Occupational Health Surveillance Department of Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Health. When asked which agrochemicals they used, the farmers cited 49 different pesticides from 31 chemical groups\u2014some of which are prohibited for tomato cultivation and one that is outright banned in Brazil.<\/p>\n

According to scholars of the subject, acute agricultural pesticide poisoning, which caused 61 of the deaths recorded in the country by the National Toxic-Pharmacological Information System (SINITOX) in 2017, is only the most visible side of the health impacts on people directly exposed to pesticides. In 2017, the most recent year for which data is available from the system, 2,548 cases of acute intoxication were recorded.<\/p>\n

Acute pesticide intoxication is manifested through clinical signs and symptoms of the harmful effects of interacting with the products in individuals responsible for handling them and applying them to crops. It presents suddenly, shortly after exposure to the chemical agent. Chronic intoxication, meanwhile, results from regular exposure to pesticides over months or years.<\/p>\n

The Office for Social Communication at the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply (MAPA) issued a statement declaring that not all of the deaths recorded by SINITOX in 2017 can be attributed to the misuse of pesticides, since 29 were suicides, two were reported as accidents, and others occurred in \u201cunknown circumstances,\u201d meaning the cause of death was not recorded.<\/p>\n

Reginaldo Minar\u00e9, deputy technical director of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), acknowledges that pesticides are dangerous chemicals that \u201cneed to be handled with care.\u201d But he stresses that considering the sheer volume applied nationwide, workers are \u201cactually quite well protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe prepare farmers and provide technical assistance to make sure they properly use these substances, which are essential to Brazilian agriculture,\u201d he says. Minar\u00e9 highlights that the National Agricultural Learning Service (SENAR) has trained more than 200,000 rural workers to use pesticides over the last decade\u201415 million people are employed in agricultural establishments across the country, according to the 2017 Agro Census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The CNA director points out that awareness needs to be raised about the correct use of equipment. \u201cBut I don’t see a lack of preparation among workers. We are heading towards an interesting level of safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, MAPA launched the National Training Program for Applicators of Agrochemicals and Related Products, also known as the Legal Applicator Program. \u201cTraining is mandatory for applicators to reduce the likelihood of poisoning,\u201d said the agency.<\/p>\n

Specialists studying the problem say that intoxication is severely underreported. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a global average of 50 unreported cases for each recorded event. In the 2021 book Desastres s\u00f3cio-sanit\u00e1rio-ambientais do agroneg\u00f3cio e resist\u00eancias agroecol\u00f3gicas no Brasil <\/em>(Socio-sanitary-environmental agribusiness disasters and agroecological resistance in Brazil) by Wanderlei Antonio Pignati of the Department of Public Health at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT) and colleagues, a chapter on acute poisoning by agricultural pesticides in the state of Mato Grosso states that in some towns, such as Sapezal, cases were underreported by up to 100% over the three years observed. It is worth noting that it is mandatory for health professionals to report such cases.<\/p>\n

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Lelia Valduga\u2009\/\u2009Getty Images<\/span>Aided by a tractor, a worker applies pesticide on a farm in Santa CatarinaLelia Valduga\u2009\/\u2009Getty Images<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEven with underreporting, it is evident that the regions with the highest agricultural production\u2014which obviously use pesticides the most\u2014have the highest incidence of acute intoxication in agricultural workers,\u201d says Pignati. Among them is the municipality of Sorriso, the largest producer of soybeans and corn in the country. These crops, in addition to rice, cotton, and pasture areas, had the highest rates of agricultural pesticide poisoning in the workplace, the researchers wrote in the book. Soybean alone accounted for 31% of cases in Mato Grosso between 2007 and 2016. In 2015, it accounted for 63% of pesticides used in the state, which uses more agrochemicals than any other state in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Scientists point out that despite being the most easily identifiable part of the problem, acute intoxications are not the cause of the biggest impact on human health as a result of direct and continuous contact with pesticides. They stress that exposure to pesticides in small, regular doses can lead to chronic health conditions. The correlation between these two factors (long-term exposure to pesticides and the emergence of chronic diseases), however, is much more difficult to study and prove. In some cases, diseases appear years or decades after exposure. The issue is growing in importance as the use of these substances rises year on year in the country.<\/p>\n

According to the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), 162,400 tons of active ingredients for pesticides were sold in Brazil in 2000. The volume jumped to 383,500 tons in 2010 and 686,300 tons in 2020. The top selling active ingredient, by far, is the herbicide glyphosate.<\/p>\n

Data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) places Brazil as second only to the USA in the total volume of pesticides used in 2020. In terms of the volume used per area of cropland, the country is in 26th<\/sup> place, according to FAO data. This statistic, according to experts, more accurately reflects the use of agrochemicals in a given country.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Ot\u00e1vio Machado Menten, a retired professor at USP’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ) in Piracicaba, emphasizes that chemical products such as fertilizers and pesticides are essential to the national agricultural sector. \u201cWithout the use of agrochemicals, Brazil would not be the agricultural powerhouse it is. Our projections indicate that national production would fall by half if we did not use pesticides,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

For Menten, agrochemicals are safe substances subject to rigorous approval processes that involve not only agronomic aspects, but also environmental and toxicological studies. \u201cThe acute toxicity of agricultural pesticides is variable. If properly applied, even products with a higher acute toxicity do not pose a risk to worker health or generate unacceptable residues in the food produced.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the scientific literature, pesticides have also been associated with the development of cancers\u2014including prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and cutaneous melanoma\u2014problems with the reproductive system, neurological diseases, mental illnesses, endocrine alterations, cardiovascular complications, and dyslipidemia, which is an imbalance in cholesterol and triglyceride levels.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/a>