ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND THE IMPACTS ON THE HEALTH OF RURAL WORKERS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES: PESTICIDES, ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS, AND WATER CONTAMINATION

Abstract

The relationship between environmental justice and the health of rural workers and rural communities highlights structural inequalities intensified by the agro-industrial model, whose expansion has resulted in severe socio-environmental impacts. The indiscriminate use of pesticides, recurring environmental disasters, and water contamination compromise the quality of life for these populations, accentuating vulnerabilities and reinforcing processes of social and health exclusion. The research investigates, therefore, how exposure to these factors affects the health and well-being of rural populations in light of the concept of environmental justice. To do so, it is based on authors such as Sigaud (1979), Bologna (1990), Rosen (1994), Peres (1995), Peres and Moreira (2003), Bombardi (2017), Lopes (2020), Rigotto, Carneiro et. al. (2021), Alves (2021), Sampaio (2012), Ferreira, Serraglio and Agostini (2013), Lehfeld, Carvalho and Balbim (2013), Moura (2016), among others. Methodologically, it adopts a qualitative approach based on Minayo (2007), descriptive and bibliographic according to Gil (2008), and comprehensive analytical in the light of Weber (1949). The findings reveal that rural workers and rural communities face multiple exposures to environmental and health risks, resulting in acute and chronic diseases, such as poisoning, neurological disorders, and cancers. There is a lag in public policies for mitigation and prevention, aggravated by the lack of inspection and specialized health care. In addition, it is found that environmental injustice is expressed in the unequal distribution of the impacts of environmental degradation, perpetuating cycles of vulnerability and exclusion. The research highlights the urgency of stricter regulation policies, epidemiological surveillance strategies, and sustainable productive alternatives that minimize socio-environmental damage and promote a less unequal reality in the protection of the health of these populations.