Abstract
Abstract The use of herbicides is essential to preserve the productivity and efficiency of crops in land use and growth factors. The general public has questioned the use of herbicides and pesticides, even when used rationally and following the procedures approved by regulatory agencies. It is essential to present accurate information about these products’ use and the risk associated with this use in this context. The mean dose and the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) continuously decreased as a function of the year of release of new active ingredients with herbicidal action in Brazil, which indicates that the new products are more efficient and present lower risks to the environment, farmworkers and consumers. The mean EIQ for each herbicide application in soybean, maize, sugarcane, and cotton has decreased in Brazil. The proportion of herbicides in the number of applications has decreased compared to other classes of pesticides, except for cotton. The risk of products decreased over time, with continuous reductions in EIQ values per unit of the treated area; the EIQ values determined per production remained stable despite the increased complexity of pest management, which caused an increase in the number of applications.
Highlights
The use of herbicides is essential to preserve the productivity and efficiency of crops in land use and growth factors
The use of Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) as a risk indicator associated with the use of pesticides offers the following advantages: it considers a complex set of parameters on the hazards and dynamics of pesticides in the agricultural environment; allows separate evaluation of the risks to the environment, workers, and consumers; and considers the rate of active ingredient used per unit area
The information presented in this figure refers not to each application but rather to the annual mean of the EIQ values obtained for each commercial product when considering its mean dose and the total applied area, regardless of whether it was used alone or mixed with other pesticides
Summary
The use of herbicides is essential to preserve the productivity and efficiency of crops in land use and growth factors. The use of EIQ as a risk indicator associated with the use of pesticides offers the following advantages: it considers a complex set of parameters on the hazards and dynamics of pesticides in the agricultural environment; allows separate evaluation of the risks to the environment, workers, and consumers; and considers the rate of active ingredient used per unit area.
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