Last week, Brazil’s sanitary surveillance agency Anvisa re-evaluated its permissions for the use of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, an active ingredient in weedkillers and the second-most sold pesticide in Brazil. Commonly known as 2,4-D, the substance is notorious for being a component of Agent Orange, the chemical weapon used by the U.S. military in the Vietnam War to provoke serious illness and disability in an estimated one million people. But 2,4-D is just one active ingredient in a universe of 2,263 pesticides currently licensed in Brazil.
While the country has always been open to such products—with Brazil being one of the world’s largest agricultural producers—the rate of newly-approved pesticides has shot up in recent years. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of pesticides cleared each year varied between 100 and 200. In 2016, the quantity of new products rose to 250 and has increased exponentially ever since. Last year, for instance, a staggering 450 pesticides were approved for use.
2019 is unlikely to buck the trend. Just last week, as Anvisa reaffirmed the license of 2,4-D, the federal government issued permits for 31 new pesticide products in one day—13 of them classified as either “extremely” or “highly” toxic.
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