The indiscriminate use of pesticides in agriculture makes it one of today's most dangerous
occupations. The use of pesticides represents grave environmental and health public problem
in countries in development. The contamination of the rural worker due to inappropriate
pesticide and agricultural defensives handling has been increasing in Brazil, although the
number of researches on knowing the impacts of these products on human health is still
insufficient to know the extension of the occupational exposition of the chemical load and
the dimension of the damage dealt to the human being. In Tocantins, the cultivation of herbs
is in expansion, being this measure part of the local production economic strategy, which
seeks to decrease the external dependency of supply these oleraceous, bound to the
expansion is the consumption of pesticides. Analyze social-professional and economic
characteristics, of health and use and pesticides handling by agricultural works in
communitarian vegetable farming in the city of Palmas (TO). A descriptive and exploratory
study was done through the application of a questionnaire to 39 herbs producers, the data
survey occurred between September 2015 and May 2016. Most producers were women
(66,7%) averaging 53 years old and incomplete elementary school (71,8%). Most (92,3%)
use pesticides on fighting plagues on the crops. It was verified that (69,2%) have been
working for more than five years at the communitarian vegetable farming, between 31 and
40 weekly hours (33,3%), possessing significate exposing time to the pesticides. Most
(52,78%) did not read the labels of the pesticides. Among them, 28,21% reported having
suffered at least one intoxication case along their lives, 97,44% informed having already felt
some discomfort associated to the exposure to pesticides. Only 38,46% of the producers
informed that they use individual protection equipment (EPI). Among the pesticides used in
the communitarian vegetable farming, it is found, currently forbidden in Brazil, the
Rodiatox, Folidol, Tamaron, Nuvarcon and Chumbinho. The conclusions of this work
indicate the use of pesticides by communitarian vegetable farming workers in unsafe work
conditions, compromising their health, it was possible to identify risk and protection factors
related to the workers’ health, in what concerns intoxication using pesticides.
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