Land Use Planning Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
Ciencias Sociales y Saberes de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Colombia.
J Environ Manage. 2021 May 15;286:112141. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112141. Epub 2021 Mar 3.
Pesticides are a major tool for the intensification of agriculture, and helped to increase food, feed and biofuel production. Yet, there are persistent concerns about the negative effects of pesticides in human health and the environment, particularly in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Given the lack of information on pesticide exposure and hazard, Colombia exemplifies the need to narrow the information gap on pesticide risk in LMICs. We assessed pesticide hazard in Colombia based on the official toxicity categorization, compared it to more integral international standards, and identified main actions to narrow this information gap. Results showed that Colombia has been a relevant regional actor in pesticide production and trade, reaching almost 75 million kilogrammes and liters sold in 2016. Based on acute toxicity for humans, a quarter of the amount of pesticides sales and imports, and a third of the exports in 2016 ranged from moderately to extremenly toxic. The top-selling agrochemicals in 2016 (glyphosate with 14% of the total sales, chlorpyrifos 7.5% and mancozeb 6.9%) are also commonly used in other countries, reflecting a homogenized global industry. Compared to integral international categorizations, we found that for that year 63% of the pesticides sold with slightly acute toxicity are actually considered highly hazardous pesticides (HHP) for humans or the environment, evidencing the need to use a more integral hazard categorization in the country. Narrowing the information gap in pesticide use and associated risks demands a transparent process of knowledge creation and sharing, including funtional information and monitoring systems. This should be part of an integral assessment and regulation that better defines HHP, their production and trade to reduce pesticide risk while informing a transition towards sustainable food systems.
农药是农业集约化的重要工具，有助于增加粮食、饲料和生物燃料的生产。然而，人们仍然对农药对人类健康和环境的负面影响持担忧态度，尤其是在低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）。鉴于缺乏关于农药接触和危害的信息，哥伦比亚是缩小 LMICs 农药风险信息差距的典范。我们根据官方毒性分类评估了哥伦比亚的农药危害，将其与更完整的国际标准进行了比较，并确定了缩小这一信息差距的主要措施。结果表明，哥伦比亚一直是农药生产和贸易的重要区域参与者，2016 年的销售量和进口量达到了近 7500 万公斤和升。基于对人类的急性毒性，2016 年农药销售量和进口量的四分之一，以及出口量的三分之一，属于中度到极度毒性。2016 年销量最高的农用化学品（草甘膦占总销量的 14%，毒死蜱占 7.5%，代森锰锌占 6.9%）在其他国家也很常见，反映出全球产业的同质化。与完整的国际分类相比，我们发现，当年有 63%的具有轻度急性毒性的农药实际上被认为对人类或环境具有高度危害性（HHP），这表明该国需要使用更完整的危害分类。缩小农药使用和相关风险的信息差距需要一个透明的知识创造和共享过程，包括功能信息和监测系统。这应成为综合评估和监管的一部分，更好地定义 HHP、它们的生产和贸易，以降低农药风险，同时为向可持续粮食系统过渡提供信息。
