Disposal of Pesticide Wastes in Apple Orchards in the South of Brazil and Its Compliance With Current Legislation

This research aimed to verify how the disposal of pesticide wastes occurs in apple orchards (Malus domestica) in the south of Brazil and to verify its compliance with current legislation. This was a quantitative, descriptive and prospective field study. The research was carried out with 82 farmers from two rural areas belonging to the municipality of São Joaquim, the largest Brazilian apple producer, located in the Serrano Plateau of the State of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. The farmers were interviewed at home and questioned about the disposal of empty pesticide containers. The results of this research showed that most farmers carry out the proper management of the empty pesticide containers and return them to the collection stations or centers (85.5%), the other 8.5% dispose empty containers inappropriately, keeping them in the open air or burning them. It should be noted that 20.7% of farmers store these containers in the open air until they are delivered to the collection stations without any protection and exposed to people and animals. In addition, it was observed that individuals without any level of education tend to store empty containers inadequately. Thus, despite the fact that Brazil is a world reference in terms of the proper disposal of empty pesticide containers, there are still cases of non-compliance with the current legislation in relation to these procedures, and there is a need for technical guidance to workers, especially those with lower levels of education, as well as greater rigor of the legislation of supervision by the competent body.