Monitoring and biodegradation of malathion residues in washing water in the control of Aedes aegypti

• Grant number: 13/25556-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2014
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Eliane Vieira
• Grantee: Eliane Vieira
• Host Institution: Instituto Biológico (IB). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Luiz Carlos Luchini ; Solange Papini

Abstract

Dengue is one of the major diseases of our time; the number of cases is increasing year by year. The city of São Paulo does various actions to control Aedes aegypti, vector of the disease, including chemical control using insecticides that can cause impacts to the environment and public health. The clothes of personal protective equipment and application equipment used in the campaigns against disease vectors are washed and the wash water is discarded in the public sewer that reaches surface water and the impact on the environment is not known. Exists various technologies for removal pesticides, such as physical, chemical and biological treatments, however the costs to remove these compounds are high and its implementation is very difficult. It is necessary to develop simple technologies with low cost and efficient to degrade these compounds. Biobed is a technology used to prevent point source contamination by pesticides and their function is to retain and degrade pesticides preventing it to reaching the soil and surface waters. In Brazil, the biobeds are still undeveloped and an unusual technology. The main component of the biobed is the biomescla which is composed of soil, straw and blurred, this mixture promotes the development of microorganisms responsible for degrading the pesticide. The objectives of this study are to determine and quantify malathion in washing clothes of personal protective equipment and machinery used for nebulization in Dengue control in urban areas of São Paulo and evaluate the possibility of degradate this insecticide in biobeds in laboratory scale. The wash water from Supervisions of Surveillance in Health of São Paulo, from the control of Dengue with malathion are going to be analyzed to verify and quantify the contamination and biobeds are going to be used in laboratory scale for degradation of malathion. The results will enable the safe disposal of water resulting from the cleaning of Personal Protective Equipment and machinery used in the chemical control of Aedes aegypti in the city of São Paulo, in order to contribute to ensure the environmental quality. (AU)