Drinking water Brazil

In studies carried out in November and December 2001 in Brazil [31], metabolites from NPEO were investigated in six different drinking water samples. Whereas in the three samples taken from Niteroi (see also Fig. 6.3.1) no analytes at all were detected, the levels in the drinking water from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were in the range from 12 to 24ngL 1 and below LOD to 6 ng L-1 for NPEiC and NPE2C, respectively. Thus the detected values are about 1000-fold less than the detected SPC values and also reflect the LAS/SPC to NPEO/NPEC concentration ratio found in Brazilian surface waters. 

Cyanobacteria - the Jekyll and Hyde of marine organisms - are a novel source of potential new pharmaceutical compounds (2618-2620, 2662). On the other hand, toxic cyanobacterial blooms in lakes, rivers, and water storage reservoirs have occurred worldwide (2621, 2663, 2664). For example, 60 patients in a Brazil hemodialysis unit died after drinking water from a lake contaminated with cyanobacterial microcystins (2622), not unlike the toxicity of red tides (2623). Cyanobacteria also produce the highly toxic neurotoxin, p-N-methylamino-L-alanine, which may be produced by all cyanobacteria (2624, 2665). 

Rats that ate barium chloride as a component of Brazil nuts showed an accumulation in the skeleton (Stoewsand et al. 1988). Rats that were given various barium compounds in the drinking water showed distribution to the heart > eye > skeletal muscle > kidney > blood > liver. The skeleton was not examined (McCauley and Washington 1983). 

Microcystins have caused the poisoning of wild and domestic animals worldwide, and in 1996, they caused the death of 76 people in Caruaru, Brazil, which was attributed to the use of microcystin-contaminated hemodialysis water. Microcystins, like the well-documented tumor promoter, okadaic acid, strongly and specifically inhibit the protein phosphatases 1 and 2A and have a tumor-promoting activity in the rat liver. In addition to acute hepatotoxicity, microcystins pose problems to human health—which could result from low-level, chronic exposure to microcystins in drinking water, as suggested by the high incidence of primary liver cancer in the... 

Exposure pathways for barium primarily consist of ingestion (e.g., food and water) and inhalation. Barium is relatively abundant in nature hence, most food contains small amounts of barium. Brazil nuts have very high barium concentrations (from 3 to 4000 ppm). It is also found in drinking water from natural deposits in certain regions. Barium is also detected in the air of most cities. 

The occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals from various prescription classes and related metabolites and medicinal products for veterinary use in aquatic environments as well as their removal is one of the emerging issues in environmental chemistry.More than 80 different prescribed pharmaceuticals, metabolites, and veterinary drugs have been detected in aquatic environment (e.g., sewage influent and effluent samples, surface and groundwater, and even drinking water), as reported by studies carried out in several European countries. United States, Canada, and Brazil. ... 

Brazil In several studies, the uranium content in food products was determined and attempts were made to estimate the total average daily intake of uranium from food, usually excluding the contribution from drinking water. One study in Sao Paolo, Brazil, used fission track analysis (FTA) to estimate the mean daily intake of... 

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