The model agro industry and its impact on people's health.

ALVAREZ MARÍA FRANCI; BERTONE CAROLA

Mérida- Mexico

Simposio; International Ecohealth Forum 2008; 2008

EcoHealth

Introduction: Faced with climate changes and energy crisis, global capitalism is recycled to continue in the prevailing market model. Establishing a niche agrofuels which aims to sustain energy demand. The raw material for this new input, occurs mostly in the fertile lands of the so-called "Global South". The increased demand is generated by cars and industry, replacing the physical effort by combustion engines that burn fuel, affecting the environment in two ways: by consuming natural resources and polluting the air. A large number of researchers realize the consequences of the expansion agro industrial over climate, balance of carbon and nitrogen emissions of gases that produce the greenhouse effect, biodiversity and the effect of water. In addition, the advance of the agricultural frontier, which mainly occurs with GM soya, has been associated with an almost indiscriminate use of agrochemicals. These products can act chronically on the body in different ways: as mutagenic, carcinogenic and / or endocrine disruptors. Mainly affecting the genitourinary system and resulting in congenital malformations. The extensión of the agricultural frontier is driven and sustained from a development paradigm whose only component is the economic income. Objectives The overall objective of this research is to analyze the evolution of agricultural expansion based on soybean monoculture, in the province of Cordoba (Argentina) -from the 80s-, and analyze the change the pattern of mortality in 25 years. Materials and methods To describe the changes in land use in the departments of the province of Cordoba, between 1988 and 2002 and in turn analyze the change in the profile of mortality in the population on the geographical space that is studied, taking averages of deaths of two triennia: 1980-1982 and 2003-2005. They are used various secondary sources: • agricultural census of the years 1988 and 2002; • population projections based on national population, • vital statistics for the periods 1980-1982 and 2003-2005. We pooled the causes of death following the ICD 10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10 th revision) (2003-2005) and his correspondence with the ICD 9 for the first period, in disaggregating groups most frequent causes and adding others in a category called "other causes". Results: The main indicators that emerge from the Agricultural Censuses are: the percentage of surface implanted with oilseeds (soybeans) that changed 22.9% (1988) to 42.2% (2002), the percentage of surface implanted with cereals grew by 20.2% to 25.4%, while the decreased number of heads of cattle. Also, the average length of farms increased from 342.6 hectares in 1988 to 477.9 hectares in 2002. The percentage distribution of deaths by groups of causes of death shows a growth percentage in the endocrine and metabolic diseases, diseases of the respiratory system, in other defined causes and tumors for males. The increase in the relative importance of those groups of causes linked to the relentless growth of the use of agrochemicals associated with technological change in agriculture.