ANTHROPIC EVALUATION IN THE PARANÁ COAST THROUGH THE ION PHOSPHATE CONCENTRATION DETERMINATION IN WATER RESOURCES

Abstract

The increase in pollution in water resources comes from practically all human activities, whether domestic, commercial, or industrial. The environment cannot absorb all pollutants, as each of these economic activities generates specific pollutants, which have certain environmental implications and directly affect the quality of any water resource. Population growth is another factor that leads to an increase in the generation of waste, of which domestic sewage, rich in nutrients and, when deposited irregularly, causes an imbalance in the water body that can be highlighted. This study aimed to identify the concentration of the phosphorus element in the form of the phosphate ion in the water resources of the coast of Paraná. To quantify this element, the spectrophotometric method of molybdenum blue was used. Samples from ten points of continental waters in the coastal region were evaluated, which suffer a greater or lesser anthropic influence. Tests were carried out from August 2017 to May 2019. In the analytical methodology, solutions of ammonium molybdate, ascorbic acid, nitric acid, and glycerin were used. When these solutions are mixed in samples or standard solutions that contain the element phosphorus, there is the formation of the blue molybdenum complex. Five repetitions were performed in each of the samples so that, in the end, the average value of the measurements was obtained. It was observed that the phosphorus concentrations through the phosphate ion showed results above 0.150 mg L-1, the maximum value of this macronutrient in water samples, recommended by the legislation, except for the result obtained in point 8 in November, whose concentration was 0.08 mg L-1. The results showed, therefore, that there is pollution in the sampled continental waters. As a consequence, it is possible to highlight that the high concentration of phosphate ion in the samples comes from human action, especially in those rivers that are closer to urban contingents.