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This work assessed the behaviour of nine pharmaceuticals and/or endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in demo-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors (UASB reactors) coupled to distinct simplified post-treatment units (submerged bed, polishing ponds, and trickling filters) fed on raw sewage taken from a municipality in Brazil. The dissolved concentration of the studied micropollutants in the raw and treated sewage was obtained using solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by analysis in a liquid chromatography system coupled to a hybrid high resolution mass spectrometer consisting of an ion-trap and time of flight (LC-MS-IT-TOF). The UASB reactors demonstrated that they were not appropriate for efficiently removing the assessed compounds from the sewage. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was an important parameter for the removal of the hydrophilic and less biodegradable compounds, such as trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. The post-treatment units substantially increased the removal of most target micropollutants present in the anaerobic effluents, with a greater removal of micropollutants in simplified systems that require a large construction area, such as the submerged bed and polishing ponds, probably because of the higher HRT employed. Alternatively, compact post-treatment systems, such as trickling filters, tended to be less effective at removing most of the micropollutants studied, and the type of packing proved to be crucial for determining the fate of such compounds using trickling filters.

Low quality drinking water has been directly correlated to the occurrence of waterborne illnesses in northern Brazil. To minimize health risks related to the water supply, the Ministry of Health has proposed the implementation of the National Program for the Surveillance of Drinking Water Quality (VIGIAGUA) in Brazilian municipalities. Focusing on the Legal Amazon region, the present study demonstrates a historical account of the percentage of municipalities included in the VIGIAGUA program in place, which in 2013 reached 45.1% of the region municipalities. This study also identifies vulnerable areas in terms of the water quality in the states of Amapá, Amazonas and Maranhão. With this analysis of the current status of the drinking water supply, this study intends to support and direct the strategic efforts of environmental health monitoring in the region. Resumo A baixa qualidade da água para consumo humano está diretamente relacionada à ocorrência de doenças de transmissão hídrica. Para minimizar riscos à saúde e vulnerabilidades relacionadas ao abastecimento de água, o Ministério da Saúde propõe a implantação do Programa Nacional de Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano (Vigiagua) aos municípios brasileiros. Focando na região da Amazônia Legal, o presente estudo demonstra uma série histórica do percentual de municípios com o programa Vigiagua implantado, atingindo em 2013 a marca de 45,1% dos municípios dessa região. O estudo ainda identifica áreas muito vulneráveis nos estados do Amapá, Amazonas e Maranhão para a questão da qualidade da água. Com esta análise da situação do abastecimento de água para consumo humano pretende-se subsidiar e direcionar as ações estratégicas da vigilância em saúde ambiental na região.

Water is essential for the socio-economic development of a region and also for the survival of human beings. Water scarcity has direct and indirect impacts on the environment, the economy and human health. It can change the profile of morbidity and mortality of diseases, as well as having an impact on the supply of services that are essential public to the quality of life. This study aims to contextualize the occurrence of drought in Brazil, its effects on human health, as well as actions to be developed by the health sector to reduce the risk to those living in affected areas, with an emphasis on the monitoring of the quality of drinking water. This is a descriptive, qualitative study with a documental basis. The documents that were researched were related to initiatives by the Health Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health up until 2014. It is necessary to strengthen the performance capacity of the Unified Health System (SUS) in order to develop timely responses to reduce the risk to public health.

Foi desenvolvido e validado um método para determinação de três perturbadores endócrinos (estradiol, etinilestradiol e bisfenol A) e cinco produtos farmacêuticos (sulfametoxazol, trimetoprima, diclofenaco, bezafibrato e miconazol) em amostras de esgoto bruto, utilizando extração em fase sólida (SPE) e cromatografia líquida à espectrometria de massas em alta resolução (HPLC-HRMS) com ionização por eletrospray, nos modos positivo e negativo. Foi utilizado na extração em fase sólida um cartucho de troca iônica forte (Strata SAX) e um cartucho contendo divinilbenzeno-pirrolidona, para reduzir os níveis dos alquilbenzeno-sulfonados de cadeia linear (LAS) e para concentrar os analitos de interesse das amostras de esgoto. A influência do efeito matriz na eficiência da ionização, a recuperação da EFS e a sensibilidade do método foi identificada e quantificada. O método foi aplicado com sucesso na determinação dos analitos em amostras de esgoto coletadas na entrada da estação de tratamento de efluentes (ETE) do Arrudas em Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. A new method for the determination of three endocrine disrupters (estradiol, ethinyl estradiol, and bisphenol A) and five pharmaceuticals (sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, diclofenac, bezafibrate and miconazole) in raw sewage samples using tandem solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbents and high-performance liquid chromatography-negative and positive electrospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS) was developed and validated. The SPE procedure used both a strong ion exchange sorbent (SAX) and a modified divinylbenzene-pyrrolidone SPE sorbent to reduce the levels of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) and to concentrate the analytes of interest from the sewage samples. The influence of matrix composition on the ionisation efficiency, the SPE recoveries, and the sensitivity of the method was identified and quantified. The method was successfully applied to the determination of analytes in raw sewage samples collected from the entrance of the Arrudas Sewage Treatment Plant, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.