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Widescale Poisoning In Brazil By Agro-toxics
For your info - P. Dines
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From: Rich Winkel, INTERNET:rich@pencil
Sender: o-imap@chumbly.math.missouri.edu
To: Patricia Dines, 73652,1202
Date: Sat, Dec 7, 1996, 4:24 PM
Subject: Report Shows Widescale Poisoning In Brazil By Agro-toxics
/** headlines: 128.0 **/
** Topic: Report Shows Widescale Poisoning In Brazil By Agro-toxics **
** Written 9:20 PM Dec 4, 1996 by econet in cdp:headlines **
/* Written 12:50 PM Dec 3, 1996 by ejdesk@igc.org in env.justice */
From: EcoNet Environmental Justice Desk <ejdesk@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Widescale poisoning by agro-toxics (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 20 Nov 1996 15:37:11 -0500 (EST)
From: sejup@ax.apc.org
To: Recipients of conference <sejup.news@conf.ax.apc.org>
Subject: Widescale poisoning by agro-toxics
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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP
(Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz).
Number 253, November 20, 1996.
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ECOLOGY
- 300 thousand poisoned by agro-toxics each year.
At least 300 thousand people suffer poisoning from agro-
toxics each year in Brazil according to calculations of the
Ministry of Health; this number also tends to increase annually.
6 thousand such cases were reported in Brazil in 1993 - according
to World Health Organization estimations there are 50 cases of
poisoning for every case reported. Thus approximately 10% of the
total number of annual poisoning in the world each year from such
products happens in Brazil where sales have shown a marked
increase since 1992. Sales in that year amounted to US $1
billion; estimated value of sales for this current year are in
the region of US $1.7 billion. Experts in the area attribute this
increase in large part to the reclassification of such products.
In December 1992 and January 1993, the Ministry of Health
revised the toxicological values of agro-toxics used in Brazil.
Products previously classified as extremely toxic (sold with a
red band) and highly toxic (sold with a yellow band) were
reclassified as toxic (blue band) or slightly toxic (green band).
"This provoked the increase of cases of poisoning in rural areas"
commented Sebastiao Pinheiro of the Brazilian Institute of
Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA). According to Pinheiro, the
reclassification of the color bands gave a false security to
purchasers of such products who "can now buy highly dangerous
products which display a less dangerous color band and the
purchaser does not receive orientations about the dangers of such
products.... The fact that reclassification took place after
pressure from the agro-toxic industry puts the entire process
under suspicion".
Lawyer Letecia Rodrigues da Silva of the Interdisciplinary
Group of Health and Agriculture in Rio Grande do Sul agrees. She
calculates that between 70% and 80% of all registered agro-toxics
were reclassified from red and yellow color bands (highly
poisonous) to blue and green color bands. Ministry for Health
spokes-people on the other hand claim that the reclassification
followed norms of the World Health Organization. Likewise a
spokesperson for the industries manufacturing and selling agro-
toxics claims that the use of such products has risen due to the
fact that larger areas are being planted and that the incidence
of diseases combated by such products have increased. However a
study carried out this year in five states - Bahia, Minas Gerais,
Sao Paulo, Parana and Rio de Janeiro shows that 7.2 people per
100 thousand inhabitants have suffered poisoning from such
products as compared to 3.95 per 100 thousand in 1993.
In the neighboring municipalities of Petrolina (Bahia) and
Jauzeiro (Bahia) 981 blood tests were carried out on workers in
the Brazilian Agro and Bovine Research Company. 21.7% of the
tests showed the probability of a high level of poisoning. A
health spokesperson for the Health Secretariat in the State of
Pernambuco commenting on the incidents of poisonings from agro-
toxics in the state remarked "The problem is serious but we are
not notified of the majority of cases. This makes more difficult
the implementation of a policy for this question". He went on to
comment that there is a high suicide rate amongst rural workers
in the state. Last year 68 of a total of 304 suicides (22.36%) in
Pernambuco were committed by rural workers. Last month, one of
the hospitals in Pertolina attended 50 cases of poisoning by
agro-toxics. "It is a high number which tends to increase"
commented a spokesperson for the hospital.
(Based on a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' on November 13
last.
- 1% of Atlantic Rainforest lost each year.
The State of Parana and the south of the State of Bahia are
the regions in Brazil which lost the largest areas of the
Atlantic Rainforest between 1990 and 1995 according to the NGO
SOS Mata Atlantica. On November 19, SOS celebrated 10 years of
existence. Today Brazil has a mere 8.8% of the original forest
cover which is concentrated near the coast. Originally the forest
covered 1.1 billion square kms; today it covers 98 million square
kms.
70% of the population of the country lives in the same
coastal strip where the forest is found. According to
calculations, 1% of the Atlantic Rainforest is lost each year.
Calculations in the State of Parana indicate that 50 thousand
square meters of the forest are cleared every hour. In Sao Paulo
because of the expansion of house construction in coastal areas,
20 thousand square meters are cleared on average per hour.
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