Pesticide Pollution in the Brazilian Pampa: Detrimental Impacts on Ecosystems and Human Health in a Neglected Biome

Abstract

The Brazilian Pampa biome covers half of Rio Grande do Sul state, in the extreme south of Brazil, creating an ecotone zone with the Atlantic Forest and bordering Pampa’s territory belonging to Uruguay and Argentina. Pampa is a non-forest biome mainly composed of grasslands and mosaics of grassland-forest vegetation. This biome shows significant animal and plant diversity, contributing to the maintenance of important ecosystem services, including CO2 capture, pollination, and water cycle regulation. However, forestry plantations, inappropriate cattle ranching, mining activities, unplanned urbanization, and the cultivation of monocultures (soy, rice, tobacco, and other cash crops) significantly threaten the conservation of the Pampa biome. A major problem observed in the Pampa, due to the great connection of this biome with agricultural areas, is pesticide pollution, which significantly affects the health of humans and animals that occupy the region. A robust body of evidence indicates that aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in the Brazilian Pampa are extensively contaminated with pesticides, as indicated by studies involving animal biomarkers and pesticide analyses performed on water and soil samples. Human studies also suggest that pesticides affect different body systems, facilitating the onset of various chronic diseases. Brazil’s conservation actions and policies have a special focus on forest ecosystems, neglecting non-forest biomes and thus aggravating the problems related to Pampa’s conservation. In this article, we discuss some problems caused by pesticide pollution in the Brazilian Pampa, drawing attention to the need for intensification of policies focused on the promotion of human and environmental health. Finally, we suggest the bioecological bioeconomy as an alternative for Rio Grande do Sul to progress its economic development but with less dependency on detrimental activities to the Pampa biome.