Brazil's Anvisa defends prohibittion of Paraquat

The toxicology superintendent of Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), Silvia Cazenave, affirms that Paraquat can cause Parkinson disease – the main reason the agency defends the prohibition of this active ingredient. The entity has opened a public consultation until next November 16 for the opinions of the productive sector and the civil society about the possibility to ban agrochemicals containing this herbicide.

"We are studying possible impacts of this substance on human health, but paraquat is extremely toxic gravity and there is evidence that can cause Parkinson. This would be a deterrent for its registration,” said Silvia.

According to her, there is not a final conclusion yet about the maintenance of paraquat registration that is defended by experts and agricultural unions, such as Aprosoja, Abramilho, CNA, Andef and Sindiveg. “We are about to lose paraquat,” said the president of the Brazilian Association of Corn Growers (Abramilho), Alysson Paolinelli.

Professor Ângelo Zanaga Trapé directs a study program of the effects of agrochemicals on human health. For him, the research does not present cases of contamination. “I already have evaluated over 30,000 farmers in the last decades and none was contaminated,” he said in the meeting.