Determination of water photochemical attenuation potential against micropollutants in Pirapozinho-SP river

• Grant number: 19/13119-2
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Resources
• Principal Investigator: Marcela Prado Silva Parizi
• Grantee: Gabriela de Souza Freitas
• Home Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rosana. Rosana , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The expressiveness of the sugarcane sector in São Paulo is also evidenced by the expansion of sugarcane cultivation in the region of Pontal do Paranapanema, where the area destined to sugarcane cultivation has increased over 400% in twelve years. Combined with the high productivity of the sugar and alcohol industry is the increasing application of pesticides, becoming a matter of concern for the society, authorities and the scientific community due to issues associated with health risks arising from the gradual ingestion of these products that contaminate water, soil and food. The persistence of pollutants in surface waters depends on abiotic and biological processes. Abiotic transformations, such as photoinduced processes, can represent major removal pathways, especially for pollutants refractory to biological degradation, as pesticides. The mechanisms of photoinduced degradation processes involve direct photolysis and indirect photodegradation, the latter referring to the degradation of a compound with the aid of photochemically generated transients. Therefore, indirect photolysis depends on the chemical composition of water bodies that has seasonal trends due to the combination of biological and chemical processes. The knowledge of micropollutants fate in the environment is essential to assess their potential impacts. However, there are few papers in the literature that are dedicated to determine the attenuation of micropollutants in rivers. In fact, there are no studies in the literature dedicated to the study of photochemical attenuation of Brazilian rivers against micropollutants. In this context, this research project intends to characterize the waters of the Pirapozinho river, one of the main rivers of Pontal do Paranapanema, in order to determine its potential of photochemical attenuation against micropollutants and also determine how this potential varies throughout the year.