Brazil child cancer deaths linked to soy farming, study finds

PUBLISHED ON
NOVEMBER 01, 2023 10:03 PM

SAO PAULO - Soy farming has been linked to a rise in child cancer deaths in Brazil, the world's biggest producer and exporter of the oilseed and one of the top users of pesticides for protecting crops from disease and pests, according to a study in the South American country.

The peer-reviewed study published on Monday (Oct 31) in PNAS, the journal of the US National Academy of Sciences, found that as soy cultivation expanded in Brazil, "agricultural pesticide exposure was associated with increased childhood cancer mortality among the broader population indirectly exposed to these chemicals."

The US researchers found a relationship between soy production and related community exposure to agrochemicals including glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller that some genetically modified soybean seeds are designed to tolerate.

"We find a statistically significant increase in pediatric leukemia following expanded local soy production," the PNAS article said, based on Brazilian childhood cancer incidence and disease mortality data spanning 15 years.

More:
https://www.asiaone.com/world/brazil-child-cancer-deaths-linked-soy-farming-study-finds

(Powerful Brazilians are destroying the Amazon, the "lungs of the world", converting the precious land to profit-making agriculture for criminals, and produce lethal applications which actually kill more people than just the ancient lineage of indigenous citizens and all the essential flora and fauna already in place for milennia.)