(VOVWORLD) - 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.
 Soybeans are harvested at a farm in Luziania, state of Goias, Brazil, February 9, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo) |
The peer-reviewed study published on Monday in PNAS, the journal of the U.S. 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.
Greater pesticide use is likely contaminating water supplies near soy farms, the researchers speculated.