FAMILIES OF FARMERS EXPOSED TO ILLEGAL PESTICIDES IN PARANÁ STATE - BRAZIL

Abstract

The existence and use of illegal insecticides, among them Hexaclorocyclohexane (HCH), is a serious problem of Public Health, mainly for those that live exposed to it. Thus, it is aimed at to characterize the farmers’ families that are daily exposed to HCH and to identify the conditions of storage of this product in rural properties. An exploratory-descriptive study was carried out using a semi-structured interview, applied during home visit to 27 families in the Northwest of Paraná State - Brazil. Data was analyzed through simple descriptive statistical analysis. The interviewees were head of the families, men in economically active and productive stage, with low education. The families were nuclear, with an average of 4.8 members, most of them poor. Most of them have knowledge about the prohibition of using HCH; however two were making use of the product “to kill insects”. Properties found in quantities between one and more than 1,000 pounds of HCH stored in paper bags or plastic unhealthy, near food and household. We believe that the low perception of risk and the lack of appropriate guidelines for the proper storage of HCH stocks identified in these families are factors that increase the chance of the same sickness. Thus, it is important to know the environment of the families that keeps stored this highly toxic product, considering its limitations to propose preventive strategies in environmental health.