Evaluation and control of human and environmental exposure to pesticides in Brazil

Pesticide use has become a major public health concern worldwide. In Brazil, the expansion of high yielding crops to produce food and biofuels has lead to an increased use of pesticides. The country is the world’s third largest consumer. It is estimated that about 540 episodes of acute pesticide poisonings occur each year, and numerous cases of chronic diseases are attributed to its use. Another problem is that legislation permits the use of highly toxic pesticides, even some that have been banned in other countries. The evaluation and control of human and environmental exposure to pesticides is fragmented between several governmental sectors and agencies, involving the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Environment and Labor. Aiming to identify the part of each sector, and evaluate the policies involved, a situational analysis was conducted. Health agencies have its action limited primarily over deleterious effects on human health, when the problem already occurred. Furthermore, several departments from the Ministry of Health are involved, including health surveillance, toxicological surveillance, and worker health surveillance. The segmentation of the several governmental agencies that are involved, their precarious relationship, and the lack of dialogue between them, results in ineffectiveness of efforts and resources. The integration of governmental sectors and agencies is fundamental to take intersectoral actions, and to employ the scientific knowledge of the several fields involved, seeking to improve the performance of evaluation and control of human and environmental exposure to pesticides in Brazil.