- Recent research has revealed human contamination by pesticides in the Brazilian Cerrado, following a previous study that also found contamination in tapirs in the region.
- This research shows how animals are providing information and inspiration for research with humans, while emphasizing that the stress endured by South America’s largest terrestrial mammal is also evidenced in people.
- Despite inspiring research on human health, tapirs themselves are not free from the challenges to their survival imposed by human actions; the species is classified as threatened by the IUCN Red List and qualified as vulnerable to extinction.
- The former president of the Brazilian federal environmental protection agency, IBAMA, says the approval of a bill that made the use of pesticides more flexible in Brazil could worsen situations like those reported by the researchers.
It was in 2015 when researchers were attempting to capture tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Brazilian Cerrado to install monitoring collars so they could study the species. While trying to complete the anesthetic procedure, they noticed that the anesthesia was not working, and as a result, they had to supplement the doses for the procedure to take effect.
This was the catalyst for research that revealed years later that tapirs in the region were contaminated with various types of pesticides and had alterations in organs important for metabolism. At the time, researchers hypothesized that something in the tapirs’ bodies was interfering with the anesthesia. One possibility was pesticide exposure, which is linked to changes in the metabolic process. Now, another hypothesis raised by the researchers back then has recently been confirmed: Residents of the same region also show contamination by pesticides.
The tapir findings prompted researchers to collect biological samples from roughly 100 nearby residents, and more than 30 people tested positive for some form of pesticide, with more than one chemical present in some cases. The most widely used pesticide in Brazil, glyphosate, was found in more than 20 people.
The work, released in a technical report in February, was conducted by researchers from the National Initiative for the Brazilian Tapir Conservation (INCAB) of the Institute of Ecological Research (IPÊ), who are preparing a paper on the research for publication in a scientific journal.
This research shows how animals are providing information and inspiration for studies with humans, which is another example of the importance of animals for the planet and for people. The findings emphasize that the stress endured by South America’s largest terrestrial mammal is also evidenced in humans.
A newly published INCAB technical report revealed human contamination by pesticides in the Cerrado savanna region of Mato Grosso do Sul state, west-central Brazil, following a previous study that also found contamination in tapirs in the region. Image courtesy of INCAB/IPÊ.
Potential links: Pesticides & organ damage
Patrícia Medici, co-founder of IPÊ, coordinator of the INCAB,