Risk perception of the use and disposal of agrochemical packaging in vegetable gardens, in Santarém, Pará

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the perception of risk in the use of agrochemicals regarding the use and disposal of empty packaging in vegetable gardens in the municipality of Santarém, Pará. The study was carried out in the municipality of Santarém, Pará, in order to verify the perception of producers who use agrochemicals in vegetable gardens, thus, were evaluated on the spot with the application of a questionnaire containing 10 open and closed questions, with 7 vegetable producing communities being evaluated (Área Verde, Cristo Rei, Floresta, Jutaí, Mararu, Tabocal and Urumanduba ), totaling 30 farmers. Analyzing the results, it was observed that all producers respect the grace period and a large part makes use of conventional methods, following mainly as label instructions, it was also observed that most producers receive guidance from professionals with technical knowledge on the subject. It was noticed that the most widely used agrochemical was the insecticide, besides, only a small part of the producers used complete personal protective equipment and most of them wash the after use, however, they do not perform a triple washing of the empty packaging. Finally, it can be seen that most producers are unaware of the collection point and discard the packaging of agrochemicals mainly in the trash. In view of the above, it is concluded that vegetable producers in the municipality of Santarém do not correctly dispose of empty agrochemical packages, discarding them in an advanced environment, and no producer returned a package at the collection point as recommended by Brazilian legislation.