INCIDENCE OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN FOODS PRODUCED IN TOBACCO GROWING AREAS IN THE PARDINHO RIVER BASIN, RS, BRAZIL

Abstract

The Vale do Rio Pardo region, where the Pardinho River Basin is located, is the main tobacco growing area of Brazil. Tobacco growing involves intense and regular use of pesticides. Among the risks to which producers are exposed is the use of the soil employed in tobacco seedling production for food cultivation. This soil can contain residues from successive pesticide applications. The objective of this work was to verify the possible contamination of these foods, seeking to elucidate the environmental problem related to tobacco growing. Therefore, 147 rural properties with less than 25ha in area, and located within the limits of the Pardinho River Basin, in the municipal districts of Gramado Xavier, Sinimbu and Santa Cruz do Sul, were selected. Of these rural properties, 23 used seedling soil for food cultivation. Residues of acephate, methamidophos, disulfoton, chlorpyrifos, and mancozeb were analyzed in 25 samples, such as sweet potato, cabbage, beans, watermelon, cucumber and tomato. No residues were found in these samples, showing that the families of the considered rural properties, during the 2000/2001 crop season, were not subjected to contamination by consumption of the food crops produced in the tobacco seedling soil.