[Health, work and environment at the Brazilian rural].

Abstract

This manuscript discusses the implications of the productive paradigm changes in health and environment of rural area of Brazil. It analyzes production, economy and demography data, facing social and structural determinants with health and environmental reflexes, revealing a serious panorama that includes: a) environmental impacts associated to large productive chains, such as corn, soy-bean, cotton and sugar cane; b) chemical contamination of diverse environment compartments due to pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture; c) the use of natural land in the expansion of agriculture and cattle farming activities; and d) the reflexes of these actions on individuals, workers or not, that are more and more forced to deal with extreme vulnerability situations because of the risk of rural work processes. Thus, the present article points that macro-determinants (or driven-forces) tends to configure the health status of Rural Brazil inhabitants which, day after day, face a series of challenges in order to guarantee dignity in their work and quality of life.