By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – In recent years, Brazil has become a haven for agro-toxins that are shunned by other industrialized countries.  According to O Estado de Sao Paulo, the National Agency for Sanitary Monitoring, the United Nations and the Brazilian Development, Industry and Commerce Ministry claim that Brazilian farmers make unabridged use of ten to twelve chemicals that are specifically banned in other parts of South America, the United States, and the European Union.

While legislation currently exists to limit the use of these dangerous toxins, the government is “dragging their feet” and has failed to take appropriate actions to reassess the chemicals or take them off of the market completely.  More specifically, the government has failed to act even though many of these substances, including metamidophos, have long been associated with endocrine problems in humans.

Despite Brazil’s movement toward genetically modified crops, the use of toxins have not subsided.  In fact, recent studies have shown that more toxins have been used to treat genetically modified crops than were used to treat non-genetically modified crops.  Businesses that sells genetically modified seeds, including Bayer and Dow, are the same companies who manufacture the agro-toxins.  These companies place a great deal of pressure on Brazil to purchase the chemicals along with the genetically modified crops.

Rosany Bochner, coordinator of Brazil’s National System of Toxic-Pharmacology, fears that Brazilians are being exposed to potentially dangerous substances that the rest of the world has rejected.  Although data does not currently exist that studies the health repercussions of these agro-toxins, few deny that they will have long-term negative side-effects.

According to Researcher Frioruz Marcelo Firpo, Brazil is under mounting pressure to keep up with the world’s economy.  As pressure mounts to ban these chemicals across the world, additional pressure is being put on Brazil to purchase the toxins.

While Firpo openly acknowledges that Brazilians are paying a heavy “invisible” cost as a result of ingesting these toxins, there does not appear to be a great deal of optimism that practices will change.

For more information, please see:

Merco Press – Brazil has become a “haven” for the use of world-banned agro-toxins – 31 May 2010

O Estado de Sao Paulo – Brasil é destino de agrotóxicos banidos no exterior – 30 May 2010

Check Biotech – Uruguay and Brazil: Genetically Modified Products and Agro-toxins Go Hand in Hand-18 August 2009