Abstract
The use of agricultural pesticides in Brazil has significantly increased during recent decades, especially due to the competition between the internal Brazilian market and that for exports. Pesticides are among the most important risk factors for the health of the general population, especially workers, and the environment, resulting in a scenario of increased public spending on health and social damage due to pollution by such chemicals, with emphasis on organophosphates and carbamates. When these substances are managed incorrectly, such as when personal protection equipment (PPE) is not used, or when they are inadequately discarded without adhering to sanitary disposal guidelines, they can cause pollution and short- and long-term damage to health. This paper therefore surveys the knowledge base of small-scale farmers with respect to exposure to agrochemicals and the importance of use of PPEs. This qualitative and transversal study relied upon the voluntary participation of 64 residents of a rural area. The study was initiated after having received approval of the Committee for Ethics in Research, and after the participants signed an informed consent form. A questionnaire was given to the participants which used multiple choice and open-ended questions. All the participants stated that they use fertilizers and other agrochemicals, and that they do not use or only sporadically use PPEs. All the participants related that they have not had access to specialized technical assistance to help with proper use of agrochemical products, and that they store these products inadequately in their house or in other inappropriate places. These small-scale farmers do not use PPEs and underestimate the damage to their health and that of their family that can be caused by improper use of agrochemicals, and also demonstrate a lack of technical knowledge with respect to adequate management of these products.
Highlights
Agricultural pesticides, agrochemicals, are fundamentally relevant to the agricultural development model in Brazil, which is the largest consumer of these products in the world (Brasil, 2019)
This study has a qualitative, transversal design, with the voluntary participation of 64 residents of a rural area who are affiliated with an agricultural cooperative in the municipality of Paraisópolis, Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil, who responded to a questionnaire elaborated by the researchers of this study
A total of 64 small-scale farmers from the rural area of Paraisópolis – MG, Brazil participated in this study, divided into 51 men and 13 women
Summary
Agricultural pesticides, agrochemicals, are fundamentally relevant to the agricultural development model in Brazil, which is the largest consumer of these products in the world (Brasil, 2019). Among the entire population of Brazil, agricultural producers are the most exposed to agrochemicals, either through direct contact, frequency of use, or even through inadequate use by not using personal protection equipment (PPE). For this reason, these farmers represent the portion of the population that is most at risk for suffering severe intoxication through contact with these products, and to develop cumulative effects (Hungaro et al, 2015; Viero et al, 2016). A study conducted examining rural farmers who were hospital patients presenting neoplasm related that the use of agrochemicals without the use of PPEs was common among these patients, and that there was predominance of neoplasms in the digestive tract, followed by cancer of the prostate and uterus, respectively (Silva et al, 2016)
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