Occurrence and risk assessment of pharmaceutically active compounds in water supply systems in Brazil.

The presence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in water supply systems has been generating great concern about their effects on the environment and human health. Twenty-eight PhACs were monitored during one year in four Brazilian water sources, aiming to understand the factors that influence their occurrence and removal in conventional drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) and to assess the environmental and human health risks. Trace levels of PhACs were detected in surface and drinking water in all assessed water sources. Effects of seasonality and socioeconomic aspects were observed in PhACs occurrence, like their higher concentrations during winter and in locales with higher values of gross domestic product per capita and human development index. Betamethasone, prednisone, and fluconazole were the most commonly detected PhACs, and also presented the highest concentrations. However, they were not related to toxicological risks. Nonetheless, all surface waters were subject to toxicological risk owing to at least one PhAC. PhACs related to the highest toxicological risks were loratadine, atorvastatin, norfloxacin, caffeine, and ranitidine, however, all these PhACs presented low quantification frequency. DWTPs capacity to remove PhACs was only partial, so treated water was still contaminated with these compounds. Furthermore, atorvastatin presented a margin of exposure below 100, indicating possible risk for public health. Thus, additional advanced treatment steps should be considered to improve PhACs removal during drinking water treatment.

Integration of membrane separation and Fenton processes for sanitary landfill leachate treatment.

The appropriate treatment of sanitary landfill leachate is one of the greatest challenges nowadays due to the large volumes of solid waste generated. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of different routes involving the integration of advanced oxidation processes based on Fenton's reagents (AOP-Fenton) and microfiltration (MF) and nanofiltration (NF) membrane processes for the treatment of landfill leachate. MF module configuration (submerged or sidestream) and MF and NF recovery rate were evaluated. The combination of AOP-Fenton, MF and NF proved to be an effective treatment for landfill leachate. High removal efficiencies of chemical oxidation demand (94-96%) and colour (96-99%) were obtained. The configuration named route 3, composed of MF of raw landfill leachate (MF1), POA-Fenton-MF2 of the MF1 concentrate and NF of both MF1 and MF2 permeates, showed a higher global water recovery and was responsible for lower waste generation. It was considered the best one in terms of environmental, technical and economical aspects.

Study of the relation between platelet count and periodontal condition in patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a disease associated to the decrease of platelet count in peripheral blood, with repercussion on the oral cavity, due to the potential risk of spontaneous bleeding or provoking it. The aim of this work was evaluate the relation between the platelet count of chronic IPT patients and their periodontal condition. Thereunto, 31 patients were evaluated; 15 with this pathology (group 1) and 16 Dentistry students with no hematologic disease (group 2). Both groups were examined in their periodontal condition through gingival condition index (G), periodontal attachment loss (P) and gingival recession (R), as well as blood tests were performed to verify the platelet count, further a questionnaire on the socioeconomic aspects, access to dentistry services and mouth health self-perception. It was observed that 68.8% of IPT patients' mouth sextants presented some degree of gingivitis, despite some 16.8% manifested loss of periodontal insertion. Gingival retraction occurred in only 2 patients of the group 1, and the average measure for this event in this group was 0.22mm. The questionnaires applied allowed characterizing the sample of the group 1 as low income and low education in relation to the group 2, but with need of dental treatment. We concluded, therefore, there was no direct relation between the platelet count of IPT individuals when the intraoral test was performed, and their periodontal conditions received the indexes "G", "P" e "R".