@article{ref1,
title="Occupational exposure to agrochemicals, risks and safety practices in family agriculture in a municipality of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil",
journal="Current developments in nutrition",
year="2019",
author="Salaroli, Luciane and Petarli, Glenda and Cattafesta, Monica and Luz, Tamires Conceição Da and Bezerra, Olívia Maria De Paula Alves and Zandonade, Eliana",
volume="3",
number="Suppl 1",
pages="P04-077",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To characterize the occupational exposure to pesticides, risk perception, safety practices and factors associated with the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the handling of pesticides in a municipality in southeastern Brazil. <br><br>METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a representative sample of 550 farmers from Santa Maria de Jetibá, the main agricultural municipality in the state of Espírito Santo/Brazil. The sociodemographic and occupational characterization of farmers with direct exposure to pesticides and the analysis of the chemical and toxicological characteristics of the products used were carried out. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 106 brands of pesticides totaling 45 chemical groups and 77 different active ingredients. Glyphosate diammonium salt was the most active active ingredient and was used by 66.4% of the farmers (<i>n</i> = 339), followed by the fungicide mancozeb (58.4%, <i>n</i> = 298) and the herbicide paraquate dichloride (58% , <i>n</i> = 296). Of the farmers evaluated, approximately 90% (<i>n</i> = 453) reported use of highly toxic agrochemicals, 56.3% (<i>n</i> = 276) used more than five pesticides and 51% (<i>n</i> = 274) worked 20 years ago in direct contact with these products. Approximately half of the farmers reported not reading the pesticide label (49.4%, <i>n</i> = 254), more than a third did not observe the time required to harvest, reapply and re-enter the crop and 71.4% (<i>n</i> = 380) did not use PPE or used it incompletely. The most cited reason for not using protective equipment was because they were uncomfortable (41.4%, <i>n</i> = 48). Several factors were associated with non-use, such as low socioeconomic class (<i>P</i> = 0.002), low educational level (<i>P</i> = 0.05), lack of technical support (<i>P</i> < 0.001) and no reading of the labels (<i>P</i> < 0.001). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the severity of occupational exposure to agrochemicals among Brazilian farmers. It was identified a population of rural workers exposed cumulatively to multiple pesticides, most of them of high toxicity. Unsafe handling practices such as the non-use of PPE and non-compliance with the grace periods for re-entry, reapplication and harvesting were also observed, posing a risk to the farmer's health and the food safety of consumers. FUNDING SOURCES: Foundation for Research Support of Espírito Santo (FAPES).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2475-2991",
doi="10.1093/cdn/nzz051.P04-077-19",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzz051.P04-077-19"
}