Atrazine characterization: An update on uses, monitoring, effects, and environmental impact, for the development of regulatory policies in Argentina.

Atrazine (ATZ) is the third most widely used herbicide in Argentina (10 000 t year-1 ) and is approved for sugar cane, flax, corn, sorghum, and tea. An assessment of the ATZ environmental impacts was conducted at the request of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina. A review of 541 national and international technical and scientific reports and a survey among agricultural technicians, applicators, and producers was done. The survey revealed that 94% of ATZ applications are terrestrial and use diversion exists, associated mainly with soybean cultivation. Atrazine was reported at high frequencies (50%-100%) in surface and groundwater, sediments, and soils, sometimes exceeding permitted limits. Several sublethal effects induced by ATZ on invertebrate and vertebrate species were found, sometimes at concentrations lower than those in water quality guidelines (<3 µg L-1 ) or the environmental concentrations found in Argentina. Available epidemiological or human health studies of local populations are extremely scarce. This assessment also demonstrated that herbicides are ubiquitous in the environment. The investigation highlights the need for further studies assessing the adverse effects of ATZ on local species, ecosystems, and human health. Therefore, the precautionary principle is recommended to promote better application standards and product traceability to reduce volumes entering the environment and to avoid use deviation. In addition, this work concluded that there is a need for reviewing the toxicological classification, establishing buffer zones for ATZ application, introducing specific management guidelines, and expanding local studies of toxicity, ecotoxicity, and human epidemiology for environmental and health risk assessments. This study could also serve as a preliminary risk evaluation for establishing a final regulatory action and for considering ATZ inclusion in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention. Finally, the requirements to consider its inclusion in Annex A (Elimination) or B (Restriction) of the Stockholm Convention were evaluated and discussed, and information on the potential of long-range transport was the only criterion with no information to consider. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:684-697. © 2022 SETAC.

Joint Probabilistic Analysis of Risk for Aquatic Species and Exceedence Frequency for the Agricultural Use of Chlorpyrifos in the Pampean Region, Argentina.

The Pampa Húmeda region in Argentina is characterized by soybean, wheat, and maize production, with intensive application of agrochemicals such as herbicides and insecticides. We used a joint probabilistic approach to analyze the probabilities for environmental chlorpyrifos concentrations measured in the Pampa Húmeda to exceed acute or chronic hazardous concentration for 5% of the species (HC5) values estimated from species sensitivity distributions for aquatic species. Chlorpyrifos concentrations in water ranged from 0.0005 to 10.8 µg/L, with a median of 0.013 µg/L. The HC5 limits were 0.0637 µg/L for acute and 0.0007 µg/L for chronic effects. The probabilities for chlorpyrifos environmental concentrations to exceed the HC5 values ranged from 35% (acute effects) to 96% (chronic effects). Water quality criteria (WQC) for the protection of aquatic life were also frequently exceeded (by 48-87%) for both acute and chronic effects. Together with published threshold limit values from mesocosm studies, these data suggest that macroinvertebrate communities can be severely affected by the reported environmental concentrations of chlorpyrifos. Indeed, changes in the macroinvertebrate assemblage in the Pampa Húmeda have been correlated with chlorpyrifos levels in sediments. Nevertheless, the actual impact needs to be ascertained by assessing the recovery rate of macroinvertebrate populations in this region. Considering the HC5 for chronic effects and the threshold limits for macroinvertebrate community level effects, we propose 0.7 ng/L as a new WQC to effectively protect aquatic life from long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1748-1755. © 2019 SETAC.

Modo de produção flexível, terceirização e precariedade subjetiva / Flexible mode of production, outsourcing and subjective precariousness

O objetivo deste artigo é sustentar a hipótese de uma precariedade subjetiva como face fundamental do fenômeno da terceirização. Para isso, primeiramente foi desenvolvido o argumento de que o fenômeno da terceirização precisa ser compreendido como parte de um processo histórico mais amplo, caracterizado pela transformação do modo de produção fordista no de produção flexível. Numa segunda parte, analisou-se o fenômeno da terceirização em um setor específico do mundo do trabalho, qual seja, dos trabalhadores de telemarketing e call center ou, como serão chamados, dos teleatendentes. Para isso foi realizada revisão bibliográfica de livros e artigos, bem como de uma análise documental com base nos arquivos do Departamento de Saúde do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Telecomunicações do Rio de Janeiro (Sinttel Rio) e em dados da Previdência Social do Brasil. Visa-se nesse momento compreender a lógica de funcionamento das empresas terceirizadas desse setor, assim como as relações entre trabalho e adoecimento, próprias desse campo de atividade. Por fim, numa última parte, foram analisadas relações existentes entre terceirização e precariedade subjetiva, que se evidencia, conforme nossa análise, pela fragmentação dos laços sociais, pelo crescimento do assédio moral, pelo medo da exclusão, pela extrema vigilância, pela falta de autonomia, pelo individualismo competitivo e pela impotência

The purpose of this article is to support the hypothesis of a subjective precariousness as the main side of the outsourcing phenomenon. To do this, firstly we developed the argument that the outsourcing phenomenon should be analyzed as part of a larger historical process, characterized by the transformation of the Fordist mode of production into the flexible one. In the second part, we presented an analysis of the outsourcing phenomenon in a specific sector of the labor market, which is the telemarketing and call center operators, or as we call, the telemarketers. In order to do this, we performed a literature review of books and articles, as well as a documentary analysis based on the files of the Health Department of the Telecommunications Laborer's Union from Rio de Janeiro (Sinttel-Rio) and on data from the Brazilian Social Security database. In this part, we aimed to understand the operating logic of the outsourced companies in this sector, and the relation between work and illness, typical of this field of activity. In the last part, we analyzed the correspondence between outsourcing and subjective insecurity, which according to our analysis is evident in fragmentation of social bonds, growth of psychological harassment, fear of exclusion, extreme vigilance, lack of autonomy, competitive individualism and impotence