Dispêndio e produtividade: o panorama do consumo de agrotóxicos no Brasil após a virada do século, intoxicações e custo ao sistema de saúde em Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

This study aimed to identify how the consumption of pesticides in Brazil developed and its resulting cost to the public health system, based on the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the seventh unit of the Federation with the highest consumption of pesticides until 2019. To answer the question: how was the development of pesticide consumption in Brazil and its cost to the health system in the 21st century? We sought to understand the relationship between the concentration of planted area and the consumption of pesticides; the relationship between consumption and negative externalities caused by pesticide consumption in the health system, characterized by exogenous pesticide poisoning and; estimate the direct and indirect costs to the public health system in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul arising from exogenous pesticide poisoning. The aim of this work was to contemplate the objective of this work through a descriptive analysis of historical data between 2001 and 2019 of agricultural production, planted area, consumption of pesticides and reported cases of exogenous pesticide poisoning in Brazil, as well as the distribution of the main crops. The cost of ilness methodology was also used to estimate the costs related to exogenous pesticide poisoning in the country, through data provided by the Unified Health System (SUS), as a way of measuring the negative externalities caused by the consumption of pesticides in the context of public health. The general results indicated that the concentration of pesticide consumption per hectare grew significantly in the country between 2001 and 2019, as well as the reported cases of exogenous pesticide poisoning, representing an increasing cost to the health system. On the other hand, production, which also grew in the period, had a lower evolution than the other variables, indicating that the relationship of difference between productivity and negative externalities resulting from the consumption of pesticides has decreased in the period, raising the need to evaluate ways of mitigation of externalities.