BRAZIL: Kids at Risk from Agrochemicals on Tobacco Farms (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

                      *** 17-Feb-99 ***

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

By Clarinha Glock

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Feb 17 (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. (END/IPS/tra-

Origin: Montevideo/HEALTH-BRAZIL/
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