Pesticides, green light from the Bolsonaro government in Brazil to use over 150 toxic substances. Since the beginning of the year, in the first 100 days of the new president's work, the country has seen an enormous increase in pesticides for sale
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Pesticides, green light from the Bolsonaro government in Brazil to use over 150 toxic substances in agriculture. Since the beginning of the year, in the first 100 days of the new president's work, the country has seen an enormous increase in pesticides for sale.
Of the new products released, 28% of them had already been banned and are not allowed in the European Union. According to the survey, conducted by greenpeace, among the new entries a substance, the sulfoxaflor, it was approved in January and was suspended in the United States for potentials for a time damage to bees.
44% of the new products registered are highly or extremely toxic. More than 10% of them mix active ingredients, and these mixtures could be even more dangerous than the substances taken individually.
And we're not talking about minor pesticides. Greenpeace highlights that among the ingredients of the products released there are the dibromuro and bifentrin, considered extremely toxic. The former is classified as H330 by the Global System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). This means that the product is lethal if inhaled. The second, a molecule classified as H300, is fatal if ingested.
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Unmissable glyphosate
Brazil also gave the green light to new products based on glyphosate, the most widely used pesticide in the country, classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as potentially carcinogenic to humans and it was associated with cancer cases in the United States.
There are also products containing the substances chlorothalonil and 2,4D, classified as potentially carcinogenic to humans, according to the IARC.
Among the recently introduced special observers that ammonium glufosinate, associated with reproductive problems in humans, the fipronil and Imidacloprid, both harmful to bees and other pollinators, belonging to the chemical group of neonicotinoids.
A further 322 pesticides are on the way
If 152 products already seem like a lot, there are 322 new registration applications accepted by the new government. At this rate, according to Greenpeace, 2019 will end with record numbers for agricultural chemicals.
To make a comparison with the past, during the socialist government of Dilma Rousseff, the authorized pesticides had been 139. The government of the conservative Michel Temer raised the total to 450. Nothing compares to the intentions of the Bolsonaro government, given that the new Minister of Agriculture has announced that the country should reach 1.300 once all authorization requests are given the green light.
The damage to the health of Brazilians
According to a Human Rights Watch study, the population living in rural areas, where the use of pesticides is high, suffers from frequent poisoning.
The 50-page report documents cases of acute pesticide-related poisoning at 7 sites, located across Brazil, including agricultural communities, indigenous communities, quilombo (Afro-Brazilian) communities and rural schools. Exposure occurs when the pesticide spray disperses from the application area or when pesticides vaporize and move in the days following spraying.
"Pesticides sprayed on large plantations poison children in their classrooms and villagers in their backyards throughout rural Brazil," said Richard Pearshouse, Human Rights Watch director of human rights and author of the report. "The Brazilian authorities must stop this toxic exposure and ensure safety against the damage that pesticides are causing to their families and communities."
But the authorities are going in a completely different direction in the name of economic interests, not caring about the health of the inhabitants and the destruction of ecosystems.
Click here to read the complete Greenpeace dossier with thelist of all pesticides authorized in Brazil
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Francesca Mancuso
