Pesticides in Drinking Water - The Brazilian Monitoring Program.

Auria M C Barbosa,Marize De L M Solano,Gisela De A Umbuzeiro

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00246

Auria M C Barbosa, Marize De L M Solano + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00246

Copy DOI

Abstract

Brazil is the world largest pesticide consumer; therefore, it is important to monitor the levels of these chemicals in the water used by population. The Ministry of Health coordinates the National Drinking Water Quality Surveillance Program (Vigiagua) with the objective to monitor water quality. Water quality data are introduced in the program by state and municipal health secretariats using a database called Sisagua (Information System of Water Quality Monitoring). Brazilian drinking water norm (Ordinance 2914/2011 from Ministry of Health) includes 27 pesticide active ingredients that need to be monitored every 6 months. This number represents <10% of current active ingredients approved for use in the country. In this work, we analyzed data compiled in Sisagua database in a qualitative and quantitative way. From 2007 to 2010, approximately 169,000 pesticide analytical results were prepared and evaluated, although approximately 980,000 would be expected if all municipalities registered their analyses. This shows that only 9–17% of municipalities registered their data in Sisagua. In this dataset, we observed non-compliance with the minimum sampling number required by the norm, lack of information about detection and quantification limits, insufficient standardization in expression of results, and several inconsistencies, leading to low credibility of pesticide data provided by the system. Therefore, it is not possible to evaluate exposure of total Brazilian population to pesticides via drinking water using the current national database system Sisagua. Lessons learned from this study could provide insights into the monitoring and reporting of pesticide residues in drinking water worldwide.

Highlights

In 1997, at Mar del Plata, the Action Plan from the United Nations Water Conference recognized water as a right for the first time and, in 2010, the same organization stated that a sufficient and safe supply of water is essential for the realization of many other human rights [1]
The pesticide active ingredients most consumed in Brazil from 2009 to 2012 were glyphosate, mineral oil, 2,4-D, atrazine, sulfur, methamidophos, vegetable oil, carbendazim, acephate, mancozeb, and diuron
After calculating the drinking water criteria (Table S1 in Supplementary Material) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and ANVISA acceptable daily intake levels (ADIs), we identified some discrepancies in relation to the Brazilian norm standard currently in use

Summary

Introduction

In 1997, at Mar del Plata, the Action Plan from the United Nations Water Conference recognized water as a right for the first time and, in 2010, the same organization stated that a sufficient and safe supply of water is essential for the realization of many other human rights [1]. Economic and human rights necessities, monitoring programs are used to track global, regional, and national progress on access to drinking water and sanitation [4]. The lack of data regarding the occurrence of contaminants in waters inhibits the prioritization of substances to be regulated and the establishment of criteria for drinking water in relation to the risks associated with drinking water consumption [5]. The selection of compounds to be regulated is not easy and quantity, physical and chemical properties, occurrence and potential hazard to non-target species need to be considered, for example [6].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion