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Water is essential for the existence of life and has various applications such as use for human consumption, commercial, agricultural and industrial purposes. As one of the most important constituents in any organism, water needs to be within physical, chemical, microbiological, organoleptic and radiological quality standards to be used, whether for drinking, irrigation or recreation. Thus, this work investigated the presence of possible contaminants in the surface water of the Criminoso Stream, which belongs to the Paraguay River basin in the municipality of Coxim-MS, through the analysis of physical-chemical parameters, pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Turbidity, True Color, Total Hardness, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Chlorides, Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and the influence of potentially contaminating metals: Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Nickel (Ni), Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb). From the results obtained, we observed that some physicochemical parameters (pH, turbidity and chlorides) and the metals Cu, Ni Cd and Pd evaluated were in accordance with the legislation 357/05 in all points in the periods analyzed. Values above the allowed values were found for Color and Fe in 4 points, for Dissolved Oxygen only in points 2 and 3, and for Electrical Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids only in point 2. The change in these values may be due to environmental impacts caused by unplanned urbanization near the stream that affects water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As industrial and transportation activities in Bandung Regency are growing rapidly, Indonesia could be at risk of increasing air pollution levels. One of the air pollutants that are very harmful to the body is lead (Pb) generated from industrial activities, mining, vehicle exhaust gas, and dust from the ground. Lead is a heavy metal that is very dangerous for the body because it is carcinogenic with its activity character as an inhibitor in cell metabolism. This study aimed to analyze the concentration of lead in the blood of public transport drivers who are active on the highway every day and are most at risk of being exposed to Pb. Measurement of Pb concentration was carried out using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Blood samples were taken from public transport drivers at Soreang Terminal, Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The analysis results showed that the average blood lead content of public transport drivers was 1,032 mg/L. The lowest level was 0.889 mg/L, and the highest was 1,200 mg/L. This shows that the lead content in the blood of public transport drivers is already in excess levels (range numbers 0.800-1.200 mg/L) when compared with the threshold for lead in the blood based on the Regulation of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (0.10 - 0.25 mg/L) and the threshold value set by the World Health Organization, which is 0.4 mg/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Iguape-Cananéia estuary-lagoon complex (CELIC) has different environment conditions between the northern and Southern sections, with different anthropic pressures. Current study evaluates the space and time variation of bioavailability of metals Fe, Zn, Mn, Co, Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb and Ni in sediments at 8 sites of CELIC during two periods in 2013. Metal bio-availability was assessed by the method of simultaneous extractions of metal ions and sulfates volatized by acidification (SEM/SVA). There was a broad space and time variability in the parameters under analysis where mean availability of metals followed the sequence Fe>Mn>Zn>Pb>Cu. All sites provided ratio SEM/SVA > 1 for metal ions Pb, Cd, Ni, Cu and Zn, with greater toxicity in the northern sediments. The above suggests bio-availability of the metals and highlighted the potential of the sediments, adversely affecting local biota. Results underscore the influence of numerous urban, agricultural and mining activities on the system, mainly derived from the river Ribeira de Iguape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measured lead and cadmium concentrations in samples of mineral mixtures commercialized in Londrina city. Lead and cadmium content were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Considering maximum concentrations recommended by National Research Council (1980) and Association of American Feed Control Officials Incorporated (2001), of the 10 analyzed samples, 06 had values greater than 30 ppm of lead and all of them had values greater than 0,5 ppm of cadmium. These findings show the necessity for careful industrial monitoring because some mineral mixtures contain sufficient lead to cause bovine toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soil of the region of the Santo Amaro lead smelter presents anomalous content of Pb and Zn and other potentially toxic elements such as Cu, Cd and As, due to the emissions from the smelter t. In order to understand the process of releasing-retention of these elements, as well as for the definition of remediation strategies, this soil was sampled, processed and characterized. In this study it was used X-ray diffraction, thermo-gravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance of clay fraction of this soil previously separated and dried. The results show that the clay fraction of this vertisol is composed of kaolinite, montmorillonite and illite. Due to the fact that these clay minerals have affinity with several metallic cations, the penetration of the potentially toxic elements in soil of the region of Santo Amaro lead smelter is low, despite of high concentrations at the top soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]