RESUMO

O aumento de florações de cianobactérias em mananciais utilizados para abastecimento é uma preocupação global. Seguindo as diretrizes da Organização Mundial da Saúde, a portaria nº 518/2004 do Ministério da Saúde, determina o monitoramento de cianobactérias nos mananciais superficiais e, quando for o caso, na água tratada. No Brasil, não há padronização de métodos de análise; assim, os métodos utilizados devem fornecer resultados confiáveis. Por meio da participação voluntária, um programa de ensaios de proficiência em cianobactérias foi realizado em 2010. Este trabalho apresenta o diagnóstico do desempenho dos laboratórios na identificação e contagem de cianobactérias. Os resultados das contagens foram submetidos ao cálculo do escore z, obtendo-se 80 por cento de laboratórios com desempenho satisfatório. Divergências foram observadas na identificação dos gêneros de cianobactérias.

The increase of cyanobacterial blooms in water sources used for supply is a global concern. Following the guidelines of the World Health Organization, ordinance nº 518/2004, the of the Ministry of Health, provides the monitoring of cyanobacteria in superficial water sources and, when appropriate, in treated water. In Brazil, there is no standardization of analysis methods; thus, the applied methods should provide reliable results. Through voluntary participation, a proficiency testing program in cyanobacteria was conducted in 2010. This paper presents the diagnostic performance of laboratories in identification and counting of cyanobacteria. Results of counts were subjected to the calculation of z-score, and 80 percent of laboratories presented satisfactory performance. Differences were observed in the identification of cyanobacterial genera.

RESUMO

To evaluate the potential of Psidium guajava as a biological accumulator of air pollutants, saplings were exposed at nine sites receiving atmospheric emissions from an oil refinery (five within, four outside the industrial area) and another reference site located at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, 27 km from the refinery. Exposures lasted about 3 months each, coincided with the seasons, and totaled five exposures between 2005 and 2006. The following parameters were evaluated: dry weight of leaves, stems, and roots, leaf area, rate of relative height increase, Ni and S contents, maximum assimilation rate, and carboxylation efficiency invivo. P. guajava was found to be an efficient accumulator of Ni, since highly significant differences were observed (P<0.001) between sites within the industrial area and the reference site for all periods of exposure and a significant negative correlation between distance from emission source and Ni content. The S content showed significant differences (P<0.05) only at sites within the industrial area for two exposures. The dry weight, leaf area, rate of relative height increase, maximum assimilation rate, and carboxylation efficiency did not present significant differences for any period of exposure. In view of the above, we conclude that P. guajava is a good bioaccumulator for Ni.

Assuntos

RESUMO

A ocorrência de florações de cianobactérias em mananciais de abastecimento público prejudica a qualidade da água, podendo, inclusive, ocasionar a presença de cianotoxinas. A dificuldade de remover as cianotoxinas da água motivou o presente trabalho, cujo objetivo foi o de avaliar a remoção da cianotoxina microcistina empregando diferentes carvões ativados em pó (CAPs). Os CAPs foram caracterizados quanto ao número de iodo, granulometria, distribuição e volume de poros, além das isotermas de Freundlich. Os resultados mostraram que os CAPs de madeira apresentaram os maiores valores do número de iodo, capacidade máxima adsortiva (qe, máx) e volume de microporos secundários e mesoporos. A adequada caracterização do CAP é uma etapa importante na sua aquisição pelas estações de tratamento de água, pois índices isolados podem não avaliar corretamente o CAP.

The cyanobacterial bloom's occurrence in sources of public supplying harms water quality, even causing cianotoxins presence. The difficulty of the cianotoxins removal from the water has motivated the present work, which objective was to evaluate the removal of the cianotoxin microcystin through the use of different powdered activated carbons (PACs). The PACs were characterized according to its iodine number, granulometry, distribution and volume of pores, besides the Freundlich isotherms. The results showed that the wood PACs presented the highest values of iodine number, maximum adsorptive capacity (qe, max) and volume of secondary micropores and mesoporos. The adequate characterization of the PACs is an important stage in its acquisition by the water treatment plants, because isolated indices can not evaluate the PACs correctly.

RESUMO

This study presents a preliminary evaluation of the use of the Brazilian fish Cynopoecilus melanotaenia as a test organism in toxicity tests. The cryptobiotic stage presented by the eggs of fish C. melanotaenia can overcome the difficulty of continuously keeping cultures and recruiting healthy animals in sufficient numbers to be used in toxicity tests. In order to determine the applicability of this species as a test organism, three different reference substances were evaluated in 96-h acute toxicity tests: Copper sulfate (CuSO4 x 5H2O), sodium dodecil sulfate (C12H25NaO4S), and sodium chloride (NaCl). Sensitivity ranged as follows: copper sulfate (0.05-0.13 mg/L), sodium dodecil sulfate (10.7-19.0 mg/L), and sodium chloride (1.44-1.96 g/L). We conclude that C. melanotaenia shows potential as a test organism in toxicity tests; however, further research should be conducted with other substances and should be compared with the research on other species before we can reach more conclusive results.

Assuntos