Análise espaço-temporal de intoxicação por pesticidas no Rio Grande do Sul

Most of pesticide poisoning cases are caused by the consumption of contaminated food and occupational exposure to toxic agents during its application or in the affected environment. The objective of this study is to analyze the cases of pesticide poisoning in state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The methodology used was: ecological study, with the analysis of pesticide poisoning notification cases, registered in a system for informing notifiable diseases (Sinan). Relative frequencies and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were calculated. The results were: 696 cases of poisoning in Rio Grande do Sul, with a greater tendency in male population (rp = 0.975; p = 0.000), white people (89.9%), people residing in rural areas (rp = 0.769; p = 0.043), population with primary education (74.5%),and the main exposure occurred at work (64%), in accidental circumstances (41.8%), with confirmed pesticide poisoning as the final classification (66.4%). The highest percentage of cases was recorded from November to February, in the macro-region of Vales (25.8%), Norte (14.5%) and Serra (10.7%). The conclusion was that the study made it possible to point out the trends of poisoning by pesticides in state of Rio Grande do Sul, constituting an important instrument in the foundation of control policies in the trade and use of pesticides.