Ten years-snapshot of the occurrence of emerging contaminants in drinking, surface and ground waters and wastewaters from São Paulo state, Brazil

Emerging contaminants have been considered one of the main concerns for ensuring the quality of water around the world. This work presents the results of 10 years of analyses carried out in the state of São Paulo (Brazil) that has the high population density and intense agricultural and industrial activities. In this work 58 compounds (9 hormones, 14 pharmaceuticals and personal care products, 8 industrial compounds, 17 pesticides and 10 illicit drugs) were determined from 2006 to 2015 in 708 samples including raw and treated sewage, surface and ground and drinking waters. A preliminary risk assessment for aquatic life protection identified potential risks for caffeine, paracetamol, diclofenac, 17α-ethynylestradiol, 17β-estradiol, estriol, estrone, testosterone, triclosan, 4-n-nonylphenol, bisphenol A, atrazine, azoxystrobin, carbendazim, fipronil, imidacloprid, malathion and tebuconazole. Drinking water criteria were available only for 22 compounds and for them no adverse effects were expected at the concentrations found, except for 17β-estradiol

CONTAMINANTES EMERGENTES EM MATRIZES AQUÁTICAS DO BRASIL: CENÁRIO ATUAL E ASPECTOS ANALÍTICOS, ECOTOXICOLÓGICOS E REGULATÓRIOS

Emerging contaminants occur in parts per trillion or less in aquatic matrices. The effects related to the exposure of aquatic biota and human to them have been identified for different compounds. The knowledge about the concentrations of the exposure is the first step to perform risk assessments. The present work describes a literature review about occurrence in Brazilian aquatic matrices, and a discussion about biological effects, legislation and analytical aspects involving the presence of emerging compounds. The review includes 58 papers published between 1997 and 2016, considering the occurrence of personal care and pharmaceutical compounds, illicit drugs, hormones, pesticides and some other endocrine disruptors compounds in the matrices sewage, surface, ground and drinking waters. The concentrations varied from ng L-1 to µg L-1, depending on the region and the compound. However, the contamination scenario was aggravated by the combination of poor sanitation status - such as low investment in sewage treatment plants, which led to an expressive contamination of the receiving waters with sewage - and the current goods consumption level, which is similar to that of developed countries. These data provide a good insight into the particular levels of contamination and can be used both for further researches and decision making in the regulation area of public policy

EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN AQUATIC MATRICES FROM BRAZIL: CURRENT SCENARIO AND ANALYTICAL, ECOTOXICOLOGICAL AND LEGISLATIONAL ASPECTS

<p></p><p>Emerging contaminants occur in parts per trillion or less in aquatic matrices. The effects related to the exposure of aquatic biota and human to them have been identified for different compounds. The knowledge about the concentrations of the exposure is the first step to perform risk assessments. The present work describes a literature review about occurrence in Brazilian aquatic matrices, and a discussion about biological effects, legislation and analytical aspects involving the presence of emerging compounds. The review includes 58 papers published between 1997 and 2016, considering the occurrence of personal care and pharmaceutical compounds, illicit drugs, hormones, pesticides and some other endocrine disruptors compounds in the matrices sewage, surface, ground and drinking waters. The concentrations varied from ng L-1 to µg L-1, depending on the region and the compound. However, the contamination scenario was aggravated by the combination of poor sanitation status - such as low investment in sewage treatment plants, which led to an expressive contamination of the receiving waters with sewage - and the current goods consumption level, which is similar to that of developed countries. These data provide a good insight into the particular levels of contamination and can be used both for further researches and decision making in the regulation area of public policy.</p><p></p

Combined effects of landscape composition and agrochemicals on frog communities amid sugarcane-dominated agroecosystems

Global demand for crops will continue increasing over the next few decades to cover both food and biofuel needs. This demand will put further pressure to expand arable land and replace natural habitats. However, we are only beginning to understand the combined effects of agrochemicals and land use change on tropical freshwater biodiversity. Here, we analyzed how pond-dwelling anuran larvae respond to pond characteristics, landscape composition, and agrochemical contamination in a sugarcane-dominated agroecosystem in Brazil. Then, we used an information theoretical approach with generalized linear models to relate species richness and abundance to predictor variables. The variation in tadpole abundance was associated with both agrochemical concentration (e.g., Ametryn, Diuron, and Malathion) and landscape variables (e.g., percentage of forest, percentage of agriculture, and distance to the closest forest). The relationship between species abundance and agrochemicals was species-specific. For example, the abundance of Scinax fuscovarius and Physalaemus nattereri were negatively associated with Ametryn, and Dendropsophus nanus was negatively associated with Tebuthiuron, while that of Leptodactylus fuscus was positively associated with Malathion. Conversely, species richness was associated with distance to forest fragments and aquatic vegetation heterogeneity, but not agrochemicals. Although we were unable to assign a specific mechanism to the variation in tadpole abundance based on field observations, the lower abundance of three species in ponds with high concentrations of agrochemicals suggest they negatively impact some frog species inhabiting agroecosystems. We recommend conserving ponds near forest fragments, with abundant stratified vegetation, and far from agrochemical runoffs to safeguard more sensitive pond-breeding species.D.S.D was supported with a doctoral fellowship from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES, Finance Code 001, #1518162), in association with the Integrated Ph.D. Program in Bioenergy (PIPG-Bioen) and the Bioenergy Research Institute (IPBEN). A.N.L. was supported by Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Postgrado. DCRF has been continuously supported by a CNPq fellowship (#302328/2017-3). F.R.S. and C.C.M were supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (#2013/50714-0; 2014/24740-6). DBP was supported by a grant from CNPq (#407318/2021-6)