03/21/2023 – 21:53
The Director of Environmental Health and the Workers’ Health Monitoring Department at the Ministry of Health, Maria Juliana Curie, acknowledged the lack of official data on the effects on human health of the contamination of water, soil, air and food with iron ore waste. Yet Social and Environmental Crime in Marianna (MG). On Tuesday (21), the ministry appeared in a public hearing before the external committee of the chamber concerned with the inspection of dams. Tragedy struck in 2015, killing 19 people and leaving a trail of pollution along the Dos River basin between Minas Gerais and Espiritu Santo. According to Maria Juliana, several studies have encountered legal hurdles that she hopes to overcome by renegotiating ongoing reform agreements.
“In the case of health, this is a business that will start. I regret to say this because I find it very exciting. With regard to Mariana, for example, seven and a half years have passed and we still do not have a uniform number of people affected, and the health effects and consequences in the short, medium and long term “, He said.
Bruno Spada / House of Representatives
Ruggero Correia (center) is concerned about the risks of cutting off resources to provide counseling for those affected
Maria Juliana reports that as soon as this is authorized, Fiocruz will monitor the health of the residents of the 48 municipalities affected by the Mariana crime. Rep. Padre Joao (PT-MG) suggested setting up a task force to make up for lost time. Despite the approval of the strategy, a representative of the Ministry of Health indicated that a task force is already working on the Yanomami human tragedy in Roraima, and that the agency has inherited staffing and budgetary limits being considered by the new federal government.
“Certainly, we will not work with the omission of this crime or the deletion of disease records,” he emphasized, “but this requires us to organize a structure in which we do not yet have to face all the needs.”
Fiocruz researcher Zélia Prophet has advocated strengthening a network for population diagnosis and surveillance in the face of evidence of disease in those affected by the toxic mud. The movement of those affected by dams has called for a special protocol to help families in the Unified Health System (SUS).
Promadinho
The audience also heard from representatives of 26 municipalities in the Paraopepa River Basin affected by the rupture of the Corrego do Vijao dam in Brumadinho. The crime took place in January 2019 and left more than 270 people dead. Marcos Resende, a resident of Brumadinho, defined the situation in the city as chaotic due to the effects on mental health and the continuing prevalence of heavy metals due to the floods.
Problems such as anxiety, depression and numerous attempts at self-annihilation, as well as skin problems and breathing problems due to iron ore dust. If a person does not drink intoxicating water with clay, he drinks intoxicating water with chemical products such as chlorine.
Nívea Alves described the case of 22 rural communities in Cachoeira do Choro, on the banks of the Paraopeba River, in Curvelo, about 200 km from Brumadinho.
“Crime did not kill 272 people. Crime continues and kills people every day. The rate of self-annihilation and depression within all societies is enormous: something that did not exist in rural areas and is starting to exist today,” he said.
The drama of those affected has been translated into numbers by independent technical advisors. The Coordinator of the Environmental and Social Defense Association (Aedas) Yasmin Vieira spoke about the outcome of a study on environmental pollution and health risks in Brumadinho.
“We identified a potential human health risk from groundwater ingestion with a concentration of heavy metals in 19% of our total samples. In terms of air quality, one group showed that the concentration of inhaled particulate matter was 480% higher than the reference value.”
Yasmine also compared SUS services in the city between 2018, before the tragedy, and 2019 after the dam collapse. In mental health alone, the number of outpatient procedures increased by 60% from year to year. Dengue cases were 40 times higher and cases of external contamination also increased.”
In neighboring cities – such as Betim, Mario Campos, Guatuba, São Joaquim de Becas and Igarape – chronic and inflammatory diseases worsened. An increase in cases of dermatitis and damage to the respiratory and digestive systems. As well as depression and panic disorder. Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections are also suspected in many cities.
resources
The coordinator of the external committee, Deputy Ruggiero Correia (PT-MG), expressed concern about the risk of cutting off resources for technical advisory services to victims, which are guaranteed by the Brumadinho crime compensation agreements. The deputy will seek clarifications from the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the meeting scheduled for April 10.
“We have agreed to request information from the institutions of justice about this deduction to independent technical advisors and, if necessary, hold a public hearing to disclose these expenses publicly, as it seems very serious to me. He defended the futility of the work of independent technical advisors.
According to Correia, risks to human health remain high in Mariana and Brumadinho due to failure to repair environmental damage.
Reporting – Jose Carlos Oliveira
Editing – Anna Schlop
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