Brazil finds worrying levels of pesticides in water of 1,400 towns
News outlets publish online tool enabling readers to check their own water results
A report that found worrying levels of 27 pesticides in 1,400 towns across Brazil has caused alarm after news outlets published its online tool enabling readers to check their own water results. Eleven of the pesticides it found traces of are prohibited in Brazil and 21 of them banned in the European Union.
The report used data local authorities sent to Brazil’s health ministry between 2014 and 2017. While most test results fell within loose Brazilian safety limits, 12% of samples breached the EU’s stricter regulations, which researchers say shows Brazilian standards aredangerously lax.