Participatory research with populations exposed to pesticides in Mato Grosso: methodological aspects and political challenges

ABSTRACT

The aim was to describe the methodological, operational, and political aspects of the project ‘Assessment of occupational, environmental and food contamination by pesticides in the Juruena Basin, Mato Grosso (MT)’, carried out between 2015 and 2019 in municipalities with high agricultural production geared towards agribusiness: Campo Novo do Parecis, Sapezal, and Campos de Júlio. Based on critical epidemiology, popular and developmental surveillance, the participatory research involved the population through links with town halls, unions public schools, and rural and urban workers. Environmental (water, air, sediment), food (vegetables, commodities, and animals), and human (blood and urine) samples were collected, and a population survey was carried out on self-reported health conditions, environmental, food, and occupational exposure of workers and residents. The data revealed a process of imposing contamination throughout the territory of the Juruena River basin, in the environment, in food, and in acute and chronic illnesses supposedly related to environmental and occupational exposure to pesticides. The participatory process in the research aimed to strengthen the struggle for healthy and sustainable territories through cooperative networks, grassroots territorial surveillance, and populations exposed to pesticides, as well as other developments that modify legislation and destructive processes of the current development model.

KEYWORDS
Pesticides; Pesticide exposure; Environmental exposure; Chemical contamination; Popular health surveillance.