Application of Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) in the Salto Grande reservoir (Americana, SP)

• Grant number: 13/15586-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2013
• End date: September 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Evaldo Luiz Gaeta Espindola
• Grantee: Éric Cesar Pagliarini
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) is an international method for calculate the probability of the occurrence of adverse events to a particular ecosystem, which can be done in either predictive or descriptive ways. This tool is based on the integration of several variables with emphasis on three lines of evidence (chemical, ecotoxicological and environmental), allowing the identification of possible contamination of an area in a time period. Despite of its extensive use internationally, the ERA is not yet an analysis tool widely used in Brazil, mainly in the descriptive way in places with a history of apparent contamination. Considering the need to expand the application of the ERA in Brazil, it was decided to use this tool in the Salto Grande Reservoir, located in Americana, SP, since this system is inserted in an area of intense urbanization, industrialization and monoculture of cane sugar, in addition to the existence of a historical database (with regular collection), containing the information necessary for the implementation of the ERA. To characterize the area, the triad which uses variables from lines of evidence chemical, ecotoxicological and environmental will be used to compare with reference values and locations defined by CONAMA 357/2005, from data previously published and provided by the CETESB. The integration of the three lines of evidence provides a value that characterized, descriptively, the ecological risk of the reservoir.