by Ms. M. R. Scribano

The Republic of Paraguay is predominantly agricultural. However, activities related to industry and commerce are increasing in significance. Moreover, there can be no doubt of the dependence that agriculture has experienced on agricultural chemicals for several decades and the country has not escaped the boom of the green revolution, which has introduced the use of chemical or synthetic technical inputs into most of the countries as a basic part of the technological package for agricultural production.

The persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are substances of natural or anthropogenetic origin that resist photolytic, chemical, and biological degradation. They are characterized by their limited solubility in lipids, which gives rise to bioaccumulation in the adipose tissues of living organisms. The POPs are semivolatile and therefore are capable of traveling long distances in the atmosphere and also being transported in the environment in limited concentrations through the movement of fresh and salt water, which gives rise to broad distribution over the earth, including to regions that have never utilized them. Thus, both human beings and the environmentalist organizations are exposed to POPs throughout the world, in many cases over long periods of time (IFCS, 1996)

This report contains a basic review of the actual management of the 12 persistent organic pollutants in Paraguay, which are listed below:

Pesticides Industrial chemical products

Aldrin               Hexachlorobenzene (pesticide)

Chlordane        Polychlorinated biphenyls

DDT

Dieldrin           Unintended by-products

Endrin             Dioxins

Heptachlor      Furans

Toxaphene

Mirex

Between 1977 and 1987 the legal importation of pesticides for agricultural use increased by 650% (Martínez Soledad, 1996). The increase in legal pesticide imports between 1990 and 1997 can be seen in the following table:

Year Gross weight (kg)

1990 2,081,465

1991 2,248,960

1992 3,015,526

1993 16,011,839

1994 4,330,532

1995 4,532,475 (up to the middle of November)

1996 7,732,280

1997 9,697,673

Source: Bureau of Plant Defense (MAG)

Technical Research Advisory Office (OCIT)

Data for 1992 from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) indicate that Paraguay utilizes 15,887,000 kg of pesticides for 2,270,000 ha, a rate of 7 kg per hectare. With this rate Paraguay occupies fifth place out of 11 in Latin America; Costa Rica occupies first place and Chile and Mexico the last two places (Repetto, 1996).

In addition to the legal importation carried out by firms registered in the Bureau of Plant Defense of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, there is undeclared illegal importation, estimated at more than double the legal importation.

Among the pesticides utilized in massive amounts in Paraguay are some highly toxic, phosphorylated and chlorinated products, some of which are already prohibited and others controlled by the Procedure for Information and Prior Consent for Chemical Products in International Commerce (PIC).

However, the Republic of Paraguay is not immune to the reality of the illegal introduction of prohibited chemical products among which, one might suppose, there are several persistent organic pollutants.

Still with regard to the utilization of persistent organic pollutants in the agricultural sector, the information obtained from the state entity responsible for the control of the chemical products utilized in the agricultural area, the Bureau of Plant Defense of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, indicates that of the 12 persistent organic pollutants the following are not normally used in Paraguay: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, toxaphene, mirex, and hexachlorobenzene (Benitez, 1997, written communication).

Since 1 August 1993, through Resolution No. 447 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Paraguay has prohibited the importation, formulation, distribution, sale, and use of organochlorine insecticides: aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, chlordane, methoxychlor, camphechlor, DDT, BHC, lindane, pentachlorophenol, alone or in mixtures with other pesticides.

On the same subject, those responsible for the present report have detected the sale of aldrin and BHC (under the name of gammexane) in a commercial firm in the market place.

An interesting point to emphasize is that in the report "Distribution of Public Water for Irrigation from 1997 to 1998" from the Bureau of Environmental Management (SSERNMA/MAG) it is noted that it was found through interviews that the following agricultural chemicals were normally utilized by the farmers:

Herbatox Nuvacron

Facet Azodrin

Polycron Furadan

Talcord Cyper

2,4-D Tordon

Curacron Apadrin

Folicur Timaron

Sevin Monocrotophos

Monophos Sherpa

Malathion 100 Cypermethrin

As can be observed no persistent organic pollutant was utilized. The report encompasses a total of 18,000 ha of rice in 26 districts in eight geopolitical departments involving 1,000 people (DOA, 1997).

At the time the present report was being written, the document "National Profile of the Management of Chemical Substances in Paraguay" was in press. The statistical data utilized for its preparation, which come from the General Bureau of Customhouses, the Central Bank of Paraguay, and the Bureau of Plant Defense and correspond to the years 1996 and 1997, show no evidence of any persistent organic pollutants (Acevedo et al., 1998).

It should be noted that until 1989 in Paraguay the use of six of the persistent organic pollutants was permitted: heptachlor, endrin, aldrin, furan, mirex, dieldrin, and DDT, which were being imported into the country by five commercial firms (MAG/DDV, 1989).

Chemical analyses of 10 horticultural products in 1991 yielded the results presented in the following table:

The analyses were carried out at the Institute for Technological Development for the Chemical Industry (INTEC) in Santa Fe, Argentina.

Within the organizational structure of the National Environmental Sanitation Service (SENASA) of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare lies the Department of Toxic and Hazardous Substances, whose responsibility includes the control of the chemical products in domestic use (SENASA, 1997).

The information obtained from this state entity indicates that in the registries of this institution no products in domestic use contain the compounds known as persistent organic compounds (Cristaldo, 1997, written communication).

Since specific information on the use of these chemical products in industry is not available, it is not possible to ensure that they are not utilized.

The National Environmental Sanitation Service indicates that there are no records available in the country on the industrial chemicals hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls and on the degradation products dioxins and furans (Cristaldo, 1997, written communication).

It is important to note that the dioxins and furans are considered to be by-products, unintentionally produced. In Paraguay waste materials, known generically as refuse, are still not subject to selective treatments for their final disposal.

In Paraguay an average of 3,000 tons of waste is generated daily. Of this, the plastics, one of the materials involved in the production of dioxins and furans through incineration, average 5.3%. In addition, the final destination of 98% of the waste is refuse dumps, some of which are known as sanitary dumps. Only 0.01% of the waste generated is burned (La Nación, 1998).

Concerning the utilization of polychlorinated biphenyls in power transformers and in the distribution of electrical energy, the state entity responsible for the subject, the National Administration for Electricity (ANDE), indicated that at the time this report was being prepared it had a total of 37,000 transformers, but that in none of them were polychlorinated biphenyls utilized. Insulating mineral oils are used (Román Romei, 1998, written communication).

Similarly, access was gained to bibliographic material provided by one of the producers of transformers in Paraguay, which supplies this equipment to ANDE. It is indicated that the chemical products utilized in the transformers are petroleum-based dielectrics, with between 16 and 22 atoms of carbon per molecule (Cabello, 1984).

The Republic of Paraguay, through pertinent entities, forms an active part of the Common Market of the South and is implementing the resolutions arising from the actions of that body, among which are:

1. Adoption of the standards of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius.
1. Approval of the Health and Phytosanitary Agreement.
2. Approval of the Technical Requirements for the Registration of Active Substances and Formulated Agrochemical Products in the MERCOSUR Region.
3. Approval of the Technical Regulation on Limits of Pesticide Residues in the Natural Agricultural Pesticides: garlic, onion, and strawberry.
4. Approval of the Registration of Household Products.

In addition, Paraguay is member of the Council on Plant Health (COSAVE), which has the following objectives:

• Strengthening of comprehensive regional plant health.

• Development of integrated actions, aimed at solving the plant health problems of common interest to the five member countries

• Coordination, by the national governmental bodies in charge of the procedures for pesticide registration, of the application of standards and methods to achieve harmonization at the regional level.

• Coordination, by the national governmental bodies in charge of the procedures for pesticides registration, of the application of the standards and methods to achieve harmonization at the regional level.

• To those ends, adoption of the guidelines established in the International Code of Conduct for the Distribution of Pesticides and in directives proposed by FAO.

• In the Republic of Paraguay, Resolution No. 447 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has, since 1993, prohibited the entry of eight of the persistent organic pollutants, namely aldrin, endrin, heptachlor, chlordane, DDT, BHC, and toxaphene, alone or in mixtures with other pesticides.

• At present in Paraguay there is no specific legislation on four of the 12 persistent organic pollutants: PCBs, dioxins, furans, and mirex.

• With regard to the polychlorinated biphenyls, it is noteworthy that the power and distribution transformers do not contain PCBs, but dielectric oils.

• The statistical data from the General Bureau of Customhouses, the Central Bank of Paraguay, and the Bureau of Plant Defense for 1996 and 1997 do not indicate admission of persistent organic pollutants into the country.

• Chemical analyses of 10 horticultural products in 1991 indicate that in nine cases residues of persistent organic pollutants were present.

• Chemical analyses of the 10 horticultural products for persistent organic pollutants in 1991 indicate that in only one case did the values for the residues exceed those indicated in the FAO Codex Alimentarius.

• Those responsible for the present report have detected the marketing of aldrin and hexachlorobenzene in a commercial firm.

• As a general conclusion, one can say there is a peremptory need, at the national level, for the design of a national plan for the rational management of chemical substances.

- Martínez, S. 1996 Situación del uso de Plaguicidas en nuestro país. Efectos en los vegetales y en el ambiente. Alternativas al uso de Plaguicidas. Alter Vida. Asunción.

- Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería - Dirección de Defensa Vegetal 1996 Planillas de Consumo de Plaguicidas.

- Oficina Consultiva y de Investigación Técnica 1997 Anuario de Importación de Insecticidas. Asunción.

- Repetto, R. & S. Boliga 1996 Los Plaguicidas y el Sistema Inmunitario: Riesgo para la Salud Pública.

- Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería -Dirección de Defensa Vegetal/ IICA 1989

Listado Oficial de Plaguicidas Utilizados en el País Asunción.

- Cabello, J. 1984 Mantenimiento Preventivo de Transformadores de Potencia PURAMIN Departamento de Información y Publicaciones Caracas.

-Dirección de Ordenamiento Ambiental 1997 Distribución de Aguas Públicas para el Riego. Período Agrícola 1997/98 MAG/SSERNMA. San Lorenzo.

-Acevedo, C, R. Scribano & J. Pinazzo 1998 Perfil Nacional sobre el Manejo de Sustancias Químicas en el Paraguay. Subsecretaría de Estado de Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería en prensa . San Lorenzo.

-La Nación 1998 Dossier: El drama de la Basura 25 de enero de 1998Asunción.

-Foro Intergubernamental Sobre Seguridad Química. 1996 Informe especial del grupo de Trabajo del IFCS sobre Contaminantes Orgánicos Persistentes.

-Edgar Benitez, 1997. Comunicación escrita. Dirección de Defensa Vegetal, Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería.

-Genaro Cristaldo, 1997. Comunicación escrita. Servicio Nacional de Saneamiento Ambiental, Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social

-Román Romei, 1998. Comunicación escrita. Administración Nacional de Electricidad