Agricultural intensification and childhood cancer in Brazil
Significance
Pesticides are critical to agricultural intensification but can negatively impact human health. We show that as soy cultivation spread across Brazil, agricultural pesticide exposure was associated with increased childhood cancer mortality among the broader population indirectly exposed to these chemicals. We find that populations were exposed to pesticides through the water supply, but negative health effects were mitigated by access to high-quality cancer treatment centers. Our results support policies to strengthen pesticide regulation, especially in contexts intensifying their food production systems, and increased public health attention to pesticide exposure in the broader community.
Cartes montrant l'extension des cultures de soja OGM résistant au glyphosate entre 2004 et 2019
Brazil is now the world’s leading consumer of highly hazardous pesticides, and the second leading consumer of all pesticides. In part, this massive consumption is because Brazil applies pesticides (per hectare) at a rate 2.3 times higher than the United States and 3 times higher than China, the first and third largest consumers of pesticides by volume, respectively (15, 16). Pesticide use for soy in Brazil has increased since the 2004 approval of genetically engineered glyphosate-resistant soybean varieties (7). Brazilian farmers also apply more inputs per hectare of soy than to other temporary crops, including corn, rice, beans, and sugarcane (7, 14, 17).
We empirically demonstrate the relationship between soy expansion and childhood blood-borne cancers—specifically, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood blood-borne cancer (18). We find a positive and significant increase in pediatric deaths from ALL following soy expansion, equivalent to 123 additional deaths
Une nouvelle étude montre des risques accrus de #leucemie pour les #enfants vivant près de zones d'épandage de #pesticides au Brésil.
Cette étude met en avant la hausse de ce type de #cancer en liaison avec la culture du #soja #OGM résistant au #glyphosate depuis 2004.
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....