Presence of pesticides in atmosphere and risk to human health: a discussion for the Environmental Surveillance

Abstract Brazil is the main consumer of pesticides in the world. Large-scale use of these products is likely to contaminate major environmental compartments and expose more people to their toxic effects. Therefore, this literature review was carried out to seek supporting elements for a qualified discussion about the performance of Environmental Surveillance (HS) within the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) related to air contamination by pesticides and health risks. Twelve papers were selected and analyzed in this literature review. Of these, only one was published in a specialized public health journal. Notwithstanding this, two epidemiological studies published in the field of environmental sciences investigated the association between air contaminated by pesticides and specific outcomes such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our findings reflect the lack of studies addressing such issue by public health. The discussion on air contamination by pesticides and potential risks to human health should be expanded by Brazilian science in order to further increase knowledge on the subject and support the HS performance capacity.

摘要 巴西是全球最大的农药消费国。该类产品的大规模施用极易污染各类主要环境介质，并使更多人群暴露于其毒性危害之中。因此，本综述旨在为围绕巴西统一卫生系统（Brazilian Unified Health System，SUS）内的环境监测（Environmental Surveillance，HS）在农药空气污染与健康风险相关领域的履职表现开展严谨规范的讨论提供支撑依据。本次综述共筛选并分析了12篇相关文献，其中仅1篇发表于专业公共卫生领域期刊。尽管如此，已有2项发表于环境科学领域的流行病学研究，探讨了农药污染空气与非霍奇金淋巴瘤（non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma，NHL）、肌萎缩侧索硬化症（amyotrophic lateral sclerosis，ALS）等特定健康结局之间的关联。本研究结果显示，公共卫生领域对此类议题的研究存在明显不足。巴西学界应进一步拓展关于农药空气污染及其潜在人类健康风险的相关讨论，以深化该领域的学术认知，并助力环境监测（HS）的履职能力提升。