Occupational exposure to pesticides, risks and safety practices in family farming in a municipality of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract Objective: to characterize occupational exposure, risk perception, safety practices and factors associated with the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during pesticide handling. Methods: cross-sectional study with a representative sample of farmers from Santa Maria de Jetibá, Espírito Santo, Brazil. We collected sociodemographic and occupational data of farmers directly exposed to pesticides and identified the active ingredients and toxicological classification of the pesticides used. Results: 106 trademarks, 45 chemical groups and 77 active ingredients were identified. There was a predominance of the herbicide glyphosate. Of the 550 farmers evaluated, 89% reported using extremely toxic pesticides, 56.3% used more than five different agrochemicals, and 51% worked for over 20 years in direct contact with these products. Half of them did not read the label, more than a third did not observe the pre-harvest, reapplication, or reentry intervals; 71.4% used incomplete PPE or none. Factors associated with non-use of PPE include socioeconomic class (p = 0.002), low educational level (p = 0.05), lack of technical support (p < 0.001) and non-reading of labels (p < 0.001). Conclusion: farmers have prolonged occupational exposure to multiple high toxicity pesticides, referring to unsafe handling practices.