Text for question

    More children have died of leukaemia since large soya plantations have gradually replaced cattle farms in parts of Brazil, suggesting that pesticide exposure could be involved. However, the number of deaths is low and the exact cause hasn’t been determined.

    Over the past two decades, parts of the Amazon have experienced a 20-fold expansion of soya farming, with previously cleared cow pastures converted into croplands. In the Cerrado, a vast savannah region which neighbours the Amazon, such farming has tripled.

    Southern Brazil has a long-standing soya farming industry, with a transition in land use taking place more recently in the north and centre of the country. Brazil overall uses more pesticides than anywhere else. While carrying out agricultural research in the Amazon, Marin Skidmore at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign heard local people talking about a recent rise in childhood cancers, with previous research linking pesticide exposure to childhood leukaemia. “I wanted to see whether this phenomenon that I was hearing about on the ground would really bear out in the data,” she says.         Skidmore and her colleagues collected information about deaths due to lymphoid leukaemia in children under 10 years old – who usually develop a form of the condition called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) – between 2004 and 2019 in rural areas of the Cerrado and Amazon, covering about 1.75 million square kilometres.

    Healthcare workers in these places don’t necessarily report all lymphoid leukaemia diagnoses to government databases, says Skidmore. The researchers therefore focused on deaths, which were well documented, she says.

    They compared that information with data about land use and the location of people’s homes relative to water sources and paediatric oncology centres.

    The team found that for every 10 per cent increase in land used for soya farming, there were an additional 0.4 lymphoid leukaemia-related deaths of children under 5 years old per 10,000 people and an additional 0.21 such deaths for children under 10 per 10,000 people. A statistical analysis indicates this wasn’t a chance finding. Death rates were higher in areas more than 100 kilometres away from a paediatric oncology centre. This makes sense, since ALL in particular is “a highly treatable cancer”, says Skidmore. Looking specifically at children who were born after the soya farming surge began in 2004, approximately half of the 226 deaths due to lymphoid leukaemia may not have occurred without the growth of that industry, she says.

    Critically, the team found that lymphoid leukaemia-related death rates were especially associated with living downstream from a soya farm, which suggests the children, or their mothers during pregnancy, may have been consuming pesticide-laced water. Previous research has linked pesticide exposure during pregnancy to cancer in infants.

    The results don’t prove that pesticides from soya farming caused the deaths, but “I buy it”, says Pablo Menéndez at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain. Nevertheless, the number of lymphoid leukaemia-related deaths is very low overall, he says.

    Chensheng (Alex) Lu at Southwest University in Chongqing, China, says that while the correlation between the deaths and the soya farming expansion seems clear, the cause isn’t definite. If the results are confirmed in further research, this will underline the importance of government-regulated pesticide policies, says Skidmore. These could include training protocols for anyone applying pesticides and access to competent healthcare to ensure early diagnoses and accessible treatment, especially for rural populations, she says.

    Agricultural intensification, via widespread pesticide use, is probably going to be part of global food security strategies, says Skidmore, who is “not advocating for a wholesale stop to these inputs”. “I think, safety first – making sure public health is taken care of as we see potentially more intensification happening in regions that are potentially under-resourced or haven’t seen these types of chemicals in the past,” she says.

New Scientist. 2 November 2023. Adapted.

Text for question

    Chemicals used in hundreds of products known as phthalates have been linked to emotional and behavioral development issues in 24-month-old-boys who were exposed during the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a new study by Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) researchers.

    “Our findings, published in NeuroToxicology, underscore the potential impact of maternal exposure to phthalates on children’s emotional and behavioral development, particularly among boys,” says Liron Cohen-Eliraz, a Ph.D. student who conducted the research as part of her dissertation. “Our study adds to the growing body of evidence highlighting the need for greater environmental awareness and action to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals during pregnancy.”

    Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable. Known as the “everywhere plastic,” the ubiquitous chemical is used in vinyl flooring, lubricating oils, and personal-care products (soaps, shampoos, hair sprays) and elsewhere.

    Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as phthalates cross the placenta and, when absorbed into the prenatal body, can either mimic or block female hormones, or in males, suppress the hormones involved in male sexual development.

    The study involved recruiting pregnant women between 11 and 18 weeks of gestation, and analyzing their spot urine samples for phthalate metabolites (DEHP, DiNP, and MBzBP). The researchers later assessed developmental and behavioral offspring progress at 24 months of age using well-established maternal report measures including CBCL, ASQ-3, and HOME questionnaires.

    The results revealed noteworthy gender-specific associations. Specifically, the study found that boys exposed to higher DEHP levels during the first trimester had lower developmental scores in personal social abilities, as measured by the ASQ-3 questionnaire.

    Moreover, these toddler aged boys exhibited higher in internalizing, including emotionally reactive, anxiety or depression scores, and somatic complaints, as well as externalizing problems.

    Although phthalates were found in 98% of the mother’s urine specimens, no differences were observed in high or low levels of girls’ exposure to varied DEHP levels during pregnancy. Continued research in this field is crucial to further understand the long-term implications of endocrine disrupting chemicals on human health and development.

American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU). 24 August 2023. Adapted.

Text for question

    Chemicals used in hundreds of products known as phthalates have been linked to emotional and behavioral development issues in 24-month-old-boys who were exposed during the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a new study by Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) researchers.

    “Our findings, published in NeuroToxicology, underscore the potential impact of maternal exposure to phthalates on children’s emotional and behavioral development, particularly among boys,” says Liron Cohen-Eliraz, a Ph.D. student who conducted the research as part of her dissertation. “Our study adds to the growing body of evidence highlighting the need for greater environmental awareness and action to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals during pregnancy.”

    Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable. Known as the “everywhere plastic,” the ubiquitous chemical is used in vinyl flooring, lubricating oils, and personal-care products (soaps, shampoos, hair sprays) and elsewhere.

    Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as phthalates cross the placenta and, when absorbed into the prenatal body, can either mimic or block female hormones, or in males, suppress the hormones involved in male sexual development.

    The study involved recruiting pregnant women between 11 and 18 weeks of gestation, and analyzing their spot urine samples for phthalate metabolites (DEHP, DiNP, and MBzBP). The researchers later assessed developmental and behavioral offspring progress at 24 months of age using well-established maternal report measures including CBCL, ASQ-3, and HOME questionnaires.

    The results revealed noteworthy gender-specific associations. Specifically, the study found that boys exposed to higher DEHP levels during the first trimester had lower developmental scores in personal social abilities, as measured by the ASQ-3 questionnaire.

    Moreover, these toddler aged boys exhibited higher in internalizing, including emotionally reactive, anxiety or depression scores, and somatic complaints, as well as externalizing problems.

    Although phthalates were found in 98% of the mother’s urine specimens, no differences were observed in high or low levels of girls’ exposure to varied DEHP levels during pregnancy. Continued research in this field is crucial to further understand the long-term implications of endocrine disrupting chemicals on human health and development.

American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU). 24 August 2023. Adapted.

Read Text to answer question.

2023 North American Wildfires

However, as the effects of climate change increase, disaster seasons are becoming less accurate. Since 2022, CDP's wildfire profile has run by calendar year. This profile covers wildfires in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Climate change is having a significant impact on wildfires around the world and across the U.S. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades. Wildfires require the alignment of a number of factors, including temperature, humidity, and the lack of moisture in fuels, such as trees, shrubs, grasses, and forest debris. All these factors would have strong direct or indirect links to climate variability and climate change".

(Texto Adaptado. Disponível em: https://disasterphilanthropy. org/disasters/2023-north-american-wildfires/?gclid=Cjwk- CAjwkY2qBhBDEiwAoQXK5RAqzf03tkrnQLhcnSeuxut-wCb- mwPegXObEtzSBpL5AiPvB0XMIfxoC008QAvD_BwE./ Acesso em: 30 out. 2023)

T E X T

Children set for more climate disasters than their grandparents, research shows

    People born today will suffer many
times more extreme heatwaves and
other climate disasters over their
lifetimes than their grandparents,
[5] research has shown. The study is the
first to assess the contrasting
experience of climate extremes by
different age groups and starkly
highlights the intergenerational
[10] injustice posed by the climate crisis.
    The analysis showed that a child
born in 2020 will endure an average of
30 extreme heatwaves in their lifetime,
even if countries fulfil their current
[15] pledges to cut future carbon emissions.
That is seven times more heatwaves
than someone born in 1960. Today’s
babies will also grow up to experience
twice as many droughts and wildfires
[20] and three times more river floods and
crop failures than someone who is 60
years old today.
    However, rapidly cutting global
emissions to keep global heating to
[25] 1.5C would almost halve the heatwaves
today’s children will experience, while
keeping under 2C would reduce the
number by a quarter.
    A vital task of the UN’s Cop26
[30] climate summit in Glasgow in November
is to deliver pledges of bigger emissions
cuts from the most polluting countries
and climate justice will be an important
element of the negotiations. Developing
[35] countries, and the youth strike
protesters who have taken to the
streets around the world, point out that
those who did least to cause the climate
crisis are suffering the most.
[40]     “Our results highlight a severe
threat to the safety of young
generations and call for drastic emission
reductions to safeguard their future,”
said Prof Wim Thiery, at Vrije

[45] Universiteit Brussel in Belgium and who
led the research. He said people under
40 today were set to live
“unprecedented” lives, ie suffering
heatwaves, droughts, floods and crop
[50] failures that would have been virtually
impossible – 0.01% chance – without
global heating.
    Dr Katja Frieler, at the Potsdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research in
[55] Germany and part of the study team,
said: “The good news is we can take
much of the climate burden from our
children’s shoulders if we limit warming
to 1.5C by phasing out fossil fuel use.
[60] This is a huge opportunity.”
    Leo Hickman, editor of Carbon
Brief, said: “These new findings
reinforce our 2019 analysis which
showed that today’s children will need
[65] to emit eight times less CO2 over the
course of their lifetime than their
grandparents, if global warming is to be
kept below 1.5C. Climate change is
already exacerbating many injustices,
[70] but the intergenerational injustice of
climate change is particularly stark.”
    The research, published in the
journal Science, combined extreme
event projections from sophisticated
[75] computer climate models, detailed
population and life expectancy data,
and global temperature trajectories
from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.
[80]     The scientists said the increases
in climate impacts calculated for today’s
young people were likely to be
underestimates, as multiple extremes
within a year had to be grouped
[85] together and the greater intensity of
events was not accounted for.
    There was significant regional
variation in the results. For example,
the 53 million children born in Europe
[90] and central Asia between 2016 and
2020 will experience about four times
more extreme events in their lifetimes
under current emissions pledges, but
the 172 million children of the same age
[95] in sub-Saharan Africa face 5.7 times
more extreme events.
    “This highlights a disproportionate
climate change burden for young
generations in the global south,” the
[100] researchers said.
    Dohyeon Kim, an activist from
South Korea who took part in the global
climate strike on Friday, said:
“Countries of the global north need to
[105] push governments to put justice and
equity at the heart of climate action,
both in terms of climate [aid] and
setting more ambitious pledges that

take into consideration historical
[110] responsibilities.”
    The analysis found that only those
aged under 40 years today will live to
see the consequences of the choices
made on emissions cuts. Those who are
[115] older will have died before the impacts
of those choices become apparent in the
world.