Visit to Brazil, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and healthy environment and interrelated rights. 121 Health and safety information must be available and accessible, and not under any circumstances be considered confidential. 122 Brazil has made various strides in this regard, including through federal access to information laws, and institutions including the National Environmental Information System (SINIMA), and the Brazilian Geographical and Statistical Institute (IBGE). 123 Positive developments in air quality monitoring in Brazil include establishment of monitoring stations in the 1970s in urban areas, and over time the increase of such stations in other parts of the country.124 The Health Surveillance Program for Populations Exposed to Pesticides (VISPEA) provide data on pesticide exposure,125 and the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Pesticide Poisoning support detection and registration of poisoning incidences.126 Fiocruz has been instrumental in presenting interdisciplinary information that has helped strengthen the Unified Health System,127 and collaborating with the PACS Institute and communities on air and water pollution, exchanging information with other organisations and participating in political mobilisation for action .128 71. 72. Data collection and dissemination processes should be independent to instil trust, protect the integrity of institutions and ensure concerns are acted upon. 129 The reliance on company-reported data in the Brumadinho disaster led to the Government’s failure to identify the risk of collapse.130 Various technical reports produced for Vale from 2003, in 2017 and 2018, only months before the collapse, identified the need to adopt risk mitigation measures.131 Vale is believed to have kept secret health and safety studies concerning the toxicity of the mud, such as those of contaminated search dogs. Similarly, with the Mariana dam collapse, safety information before, during and after the disaster was dominated by the companies leading to an underestimation of potentially affected persons in the environmental impact assessment, inadequate mitigation measures, and a deep distrust among community members regarding virtually every aspect of the disaster.132 73. The communities in Piquiá de Baixo suffered from a lack of independent information. The information presented by the companies to the Governments and the public remarkably shows no air quality exceedances, despite clear evidence of pollution and health impacts among the community. 133 74. Across various sectors and key cases, unavailability of information was a recurrent concern. In the extractives industry there is an apparent lack of reliable information on hazardous substances with respect to mining operations. Inadequate information was available about the toxicity of the waste after the Mariana disaster, the companies insisted that it was non-toxic, and rejected calls for precaution. Only three weeks after concerns were raised, including by this mandate, was information availed. When health impacts in Barra Longa emerged years later, Renova sought to exert ownership of epidemiological and 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 A/74/480. A/HRC/30/40. José Antônio TIETZMANN E SILVA and Luciane MARTINS DE ARAÚJO (2018) https://ojs.imodev.org/index.php/RIGO/article/view/243/389; UN ECLAC (2018) https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/43302/1/S1701020_en.pdf; Miriam Ventura (Apr. 2013) https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0102311X2013000400002&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en. Rosa I. Rodríguez-Cotto et al (2014) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4448729/. Ministry of Health, http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/diretrizes_vigilancia_populacoes_expostas_agrotoxicos.pdf . Conitec, Ministry of Health http://conitec.gov.br/images/Relatorios/2019/Relatorio_DiretrizesBrasileiras_Agrotoxico_Capitulo5.p df. Fiocruz (2018) https://portal.fiocruz.br/colecao-saude-ambiente-e-sustentabilidade. Villarreal Villamar et al (2018) https://www.aacademica.org/maria.del.carmen.villarreal.villamar/22.pdf. Articulação Internacional dos Atingidos e Atingidas pela Vale (AIAAV) (2019). CIAEA (2020). Id. Conectas Human Rights et al (2016) https://www.uprinfo.org/sites/default/files/document/brazil/session_27_-_may_2017/js22_upr27_bra_e_main.pdf. FIDH, JnT (May 2019) https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/bresil734anglaisweb2019.pdf. 15