Nitrate in groundwater in Ribeirão Preto city area in Brazil

The region of Ribeirão Preto City, southeastern Brazil, is an important sugar cane and recharge area for grounwater of the Guarany aquifer. This research was conducted to evaluate the potential contamination of groundwater with nitrates in the area and in surrounding municipal wells. No significant amount of nitrate was found in the recharge agricultural area. However, nitrate levels were detected at concentrations higher than the Maximum Concentration Level (MCL) of 6.0 mg/L in a downtown, urban, well located away from agriculture, which had no history of nitrogen application, reaching values higher than the maximum risk coefficient for infants (RC) of 1.0.