Pomeranian community and the use of pesticides: an unknown reality/Comunidade pomerana e uso de agrotoxicos: uma realidade pouco conhecida

• Published in: Ciência & saude coletiva 2009-12, Vol.14 (6), p.2239
• Main Authors: Jacobson, Ludmilla da Silva Viana, Hacon, Sandra de Souza, Alvarenga, Luciana, Goldstein, Roberta Argento, Gums, Carmen, Buss, Daniel Forsin, Leda, Luciana Ribeiro
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Analysis; Pesticides
• ISSN: 1413-8123

The objective of this article is to characterize social and economically the Pomeranian community from "Alto Santa Maria" in the municipality of Santa Maria de Jetiba at Espirito Santo State and investigate the main factors of pesticides exposure in rural community. A cross-sectional study was carried out interviewing 151 members of a rural Pomeranian community using a semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis was based in descriptive statistics and logistics regression models. The results revealed that the majority of the community members own their land. The child participation in agricultural activities is a tradition in the Pomeranian culture. The use of pesticides by this community began in the 80s since then; different types of pesticides have frequently been used by rural residents. The logistic regression models that associate the presence of some health problem with how the land is cleaned, pesticides usage, pesticides application frequency and the use of protection equipment, showed that the chance of an individual to present some health problem is related with the use of pesticides. Another regression model showed that the education level is an important factor to the use of protection equipment. The Pomeranian community studied has some cultural habits that contribute for the exposure of pesticides. Key words Pesticides, Pomeranian community, Rural worker O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar socioeconomicamente a comunidade pomerana do Alto Santa Maria, localizada no municipio de Santa Maria de Jetiba (ES) e investigar osprincipais fatores de exposicao aos agrotoxicos. Tratase de um estudo transversal realizado a partir de um questionario semi-estruturado, reunindo informacoes de 151 familias. A analise foi baseada em estatisticas descritivas e modelos de regressao logistica. Os resultados revelaram que a maioria dos membros da comunidade e o proprietario da terra. A participacao das criancas nas atividades agricolas e uma tradicao da cultura pomerana. O uso de agrotoxicos nas lavouras nesta comunidade comecou na decada de oitenta e, desde entao, diferentes tipos de agrotoxicos sao frequentemente usados pela populacao rural. Os modelos de regressao logistica que associam a presenca de algumproblema de saude com o tipo de limpeza da terra, uso de agrotoxicos, frequencia de aplicacao dos agrotoxicos e uso de equipamento de protecao mostraram que a chance de um individuo apresentar algum problema de saude esta relacionada com o uso de agro