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Particulate matter (PM) is one of the existing air pollutants, which can cause damages to human health, public property, and the environment. The chemical composition of this pollutant greatly varies, mainly its organic fraction. Thus, our objective was to carry out a literature review based on articles, considering studies conducted in South America, whose authors address the characterization of the polar organic fraction of PM. We performed the review using the Scopus, SciELO, and Web of Science databases, considering publications dated from the years 2010 to 2019. A total of 14,575 articles were found, of which only 12 met the predefined selection criteria. According to our research, the most studied compound is levoglucosan, a biomass burning marker belonging to the group of anhydrous sugars. Besides, nitro-PAHs, which usually originate from vehicular sources and are compounds with mutagenic and carcinogenic characteristics, have also been found. Moreover, we concluded that, currently, there are few studies on the subject in South America, requiring more research on polar organic compounds present in PM in countries of this region. These studies are of great importance because some compounds can cause great damage to human health, such as the nitro-PAHs; furthermore, PM may still have unknown compounds that need identification and elucidation of their toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pantanal is located in the center of South America in a tectonically active sedimentary basin of Quaternary age. Even though the relief is flat and the diversity of the sediments is low, its vegetation cover has high variability resulting from seasonal fluctuations in water levels and the presence of four surrounding biomes. Changes in elevation of less than 1 m influence the length and intensity of floods, powerfully affecting the vegetation. Faults with small vertical displacement can generate abrupt vegetation changes and, consequently, expressive vegetation lineaments. This study characterizes a lineament in the northern Pantanal, considering Land Surface Phenology, estimates of precipitation, and floristic survey. The phenological metrics, obtained from a 15-year time series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer processed by TIMESAT software, discriminate evergreen forests in the NW of this lineament from savanna-like physiognomies in the SE region. Plant taxonomic identification shows two distinct regional strata with a clear separation between species adapted to prolonged floods in the NW and typical species of the Cerrado biome, mostly xeromorphic, in the SE. Data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission complemented the analysis, showing different dependence on local rains on different sides of the lineament. The entire dataset defines this geological structure as a driver of the Pantanal's plant communities, being a boundary for the extensive establishment of propagules of the Amazon biome. This research, in addition to advancing knowledge of this singular region, which is essential for management studies, can be a stimulus to biological and forest investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]