Brazil has held first place since 2008 in consumption of agro-toxins. This leading role causes concern because 88 percent of these chemical-based agricultural defense products can harm the environment, according to a report from the Brazilian government's environmental research institute IBAMA, released Monday, Jan. 24. Human health is the other victim.

The study was based on commercial data from production in 2009, reported by the companies themselves. Categorized based on degree of eco-toxicity, from one to four, with four being the least aggressive, the results show that one percent of agro-toxins are category 1, while 38 percent are in category 2, and 49 percent in category 3.

“Agro-toxins can contaminate the environment, create imbalances and contribute to the loss of biodiversity,” Márcio Freitas, IBAMA's general coordinator for chemical assessment and control, told Tierramérica.