HEALTH-BRAZIL: Kids at Risk from Agrochemicals on Tobacco Farms

By Clarinha Glock Reprint | | Print |

Clarinha Glock

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Feb 17 1999 (IPS) - Children in Brazil’s southern tobacco-growing region suffer frequent intoxication by agrochemicals, while working – illegally – in high-risk conditions.

Natalia Konflanz came close to becoming a casualty of toxic agrochemicals. At one year of age, her pacifier fell onto a spot where pesticides had accumulated. She survived thanks to the quick action of her parents, who rushed her to a nearby health clinic. Today, at age 14, her health remains at risk.

Natalia goes to school in the morning and picks tobacco in the afternoon. She says she doesn’t like to work, and would prefer to watch TV.

Sometimes she gets out of work by saying she has to study for a test. Her dream is to become a teacher.

Her father, Evaldo Konflanz, 40, suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, stress and dizzy spells as he works in his yard, surrounded by tobacco leaves.

Born into a family of small tobacco farmers in Camaquan, a municipality of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Konflanz was practically born in a tobacco field, where he began to work as a child.

He is not aware that his symptoms are probably the result of chronic contamination by the agrochemicals used in the production of tobacco.

Konflanz was forced to take some time off from work two years ago due to frequent vomiting and general poor health. But like his fellow tobacco workers who suffer the same ailments, sometimes he takes a pill that reduces dizziness and just keeps on working. He only goes to the doctor when he gets too sick to work.

Similar symptoms have showed up in the rest of the family. Konflanz’ wife has an ugly red rash on her back, caused by an allergy to tobacco, and vomits when she comes close to green tobacco leaves. Nevertheless, she worked in the fields until just a few days before her first daughter, Natalia, was born.

The children also suffer when their parents fall ill, because they are forced to pick up the slack in the fields.

But intoxication is not the only health hazard. The repeated bending over to pick the leaves during the November to January harvest, exhaustion and continuous exposure to the sun and high temperatures make tobacco workers more vulnerable to illness in general.

Continuous exposure to toxic agrochemicals can also cause neurological damage, resulting in depression, trembling or the loss of reflexes, according to a 1998 report on children and adolescents on tobacco plantations by the Regional Office of the Labour Ministry.

“There are indications that the number of people affected by cancer has increased, as well as the birth-rate of babies without brains,” states the document. The report also warns that the pollution of the soil could affect future generations.

Of the 64,690 cases of intoxication registered in 1996 in Brazil, 26.7 percent were reported in southern states.

In Rio Grande do Sul, where most of Brazil’s tobacco farms are concentrated, 10,285 people were affected by toxic agrochemicals, according to the study – which adds that the number would be even higher if all cases were reported.

The incorrect employment of pesticides by people who fail to use safety equipment or lack technical know-how increases the intoxication rate among workers.

Of 1,298 students interviewed by the Regional Office of the Labour Ministry in five tobacco-growing municipalities, 120 said they had helped apply agrochemicals, despite local legislation that bars children or teenagers from participating in such work.

Eighteen of the minors were hospitalised due to contact with agrochemicals. Six of them were under 12 years of age.

“It is common for these cases to be treated at home with anti- allergy medication, home remedies and rest,” said Claudio Carvalho Menezes, an inspector at the Regional Office of the Labour Ministry.

The study carried out Menezes and sociologist Eridan Moreira Magalhaes is to be used as a tool in planning action to fight child labour in high-risk situations on tobacco plantations, said the local representative of the Labour Ministry, Mauro Moura de Azevedo.

Back pain is the most frequent complaint among young workers, due to the repetitive bending down to pick tabacco leaves and carry them, which puts excess strain on spinal columns still being formed.

Headaches and dizziness were listed in second and third place, attributed to prolonged exposure to the sun or the strong odors of agrochemicals. Skin rashes, learning difficulties and insomnia were other problems reported by children in the area.