PH24 Environmental Assessment, Environmental Toxicology
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Thursday
(PH270) Comparing the socio-environmental factors controlling the pesticides use among smallholders in Brazil: evidences from the Atlantic Coast and the Amazon.
Waichman, A1, Pedlowski, M2, Nina, N1, Aquino, S2, Canella, M2, 1 Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil2 Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos de Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ABSTRACT- In Brazil agricultural systems are heavily dependent on chemical inputs because adoption of technological packages based on the ideals of the Green Revolution. Meanwhile, several studies have shown that most Brazilian peasants are not adequately prepared for the use of these technologies, and ignore the risks of pesticides to human health and the environment. Our goal is to compare the socioeconomic factors controlling the use of pesticides by smallholders in agricultural areas located on two rather different ecological regions of Brazil (i.e., the Atlantic coast and the Amazon Basin). In order to conduct our assessment on the use of pesticides, we built a questionnaire to gather data in two randomly selected samples. Our questionnaire included questions aimed at providing information on: the financial costs associated to the adoption of pesticides, the identification of the pesticides being utilized and their respective toxicity levels, the use of safety equipments and evidences of health problems caused by the possible mishandling of pesticides. In both places, most farmers had not formal training on how to safely handle and apply pesticides. Moreover, less than half of farmers on both areas owned adequate safety gear required to safely spread pesticides. Results also indicated that high toxicity level pesticides were used without proper measures to avoid both human and environmental contamination. Finally, we argue that the results of this study showed that small farmers were not prepared to adequately incorporate pesticides into their agricultural systems with potential negative impacts on human health and natural systems.
Key words: Atlantic Coast, pesticides, Amazon, socioenvironmental risks