Children and adolescents in rural areas of Latin America are in constant contact with highly dangerous pesticides.

Pesticides of high danger for many women in the agricultural areas of the Autlán Valley, in Jalisco, Mexico, it is a common scene to see their children returning from the fields with irritations, headaches, nausea, and vomiting due to the use of pesticides, a common practice throughout Latin America lacking measures to prevent it.

“After spraying, my son [16 years old] came back with a headache and vomiting (…) when he sprays, he only uses a bandana [a homemade fabric mask] to cover his nose and mouth,” says Lidia Morales, an indigenous woman from Guerrero who moved almost a decade ago to the agricultural community of El Mentidero, in Autlán, in search of better income for her family working in the fields.

Jalisco is promoted as the “agri-food giant of Mexico” for its leadership in the production of crops such as avocado, sugarcane, raspberry, and blackberry.

But it is also a leader in another aspect: intoxications due to highly dangerous pesticides. According to data from the Ministry of Health, in 2024, it recorded 72 cases, and by April of this year, it already totaled 62.

Rodolfo González Figueroa, an agroecologist and promoter of agroecological processes in the region, states that the real figure is much higher. He estimates that more than 70% of cases do not receive medical attention. “If they were registered, the number would be alarming,” he notes.

Informal workers exposed to high-risk agrochemicals

But in El Mentidero, as well as in many other agricultural areas, live informal workers without access to social security. Therefore, intoxications due to highly dangerous pesticides are treated at home. Women are used to using milk or lemon to relieve symptoms.

“The intoxication passes, and the next day they are back in the fields, working and spraying again,” relates Alma Cisneros, another mother from El Mentidero. Her husband died a few weeks ago due to intoxication related to the use of Lannate, a potent insecticide that kills crop larvae and sucking insects.

What happens in El Mentidero with intoxications due to high-risk pesticides is repeated in numerous rural areas of the region, where teenagers, children, and even babies are exposed daily to pesticides, including those of high danger, either because they work, live, or study near sprayed areas, or because they come into contact with these residues in their own homes, while eating, drinking, or playing.

“There is no escape, studies show that there are traces of pesticides throughout the environment,” said Cecilia Gargano to SciDev.Net, a specialist in socio-environmental conflicts and researcher at the National University of San Martín, in Argentina.

Although there are no official figures on the number of children exposed to high-risk pesticides, it is estimated that there could be millions, considering the number of children and teenagers who work in the fields.

Children working in the fields

In its 2024 report, the International Labor Organization (ILO) shows that in Latin America and the Caribbean, there are 7.3 million children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years old who work, and 46% of them do so in agricultural activities, classified by the ILO itself as dangerous, partly due to the use of toxic substances.

The participation of children and young people in agricultural work is not new. But what some specialists consider revealing – and worrying – is that the risks that childhood faces due to the use of pesticides and herbicides configure a public health crisis that “we are collectively ignoring.”

This is described by a group of researchers from Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, and Mexico in a discussion article published on August 15 in the print edition of the journal Science of the Total Environment.

In the article, the group warns that there are dozens of studies in the region showing associations between the exposure of minors to pesticides and adverse effects ranging from neurological and cognitive damage to respiratory problems, allergies, leukemia, and hormonal and sexual alterations, among others.

Consequences on maternal and child health

However, despite the scientific evidence, the authors point out that the issue has been neglected in the worker’s health and maternal and child health agendas, and that this invisibility delays political responses and compromises risk assessments, effective interventions, medical care, and monitoring.

“No actor is going to solve this on their own,” said Rafael Buralli to SciDev.Net, a researcher at the School of Public Health at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the first author of the article.

“That’s why we call for action so that everyone (governments, academics,