The legislation for the permitted amount of pesticides in water: the cases of Brazil and the European Union

Abstract

This article aims to compare the current legislation in Brazil along with the one from the European Union, based on the Theory of Dependency, showing how the colony-metropolis system of the colonial period is somehow present until today, however, through the dependence on goods capital, technology and specifically for this article, pesticides. The analysis focuses on the legislation of pesticides allowed in Brazilian water, compared to European countries, and how it impacts the Brazilian environment, polluting rivers, rain, water for human consumption and biota in general. The method used was the comparative. The results indicate that there is a Brazilian dependence as an agro-exporting country in international trade, due to historically more flexible legislation for the quantities of pesticides that can be found in water, which directly affect the environment and well-being, which can cause damage to the environment and individuals’ health.