Abstract:

Abstract Introduction: Water is a natural resource of vital importance to all living beings, but when it is polluted it can be the cause of various diseases. A wide variety of pollutants have been found in groundwater and nitrate is the most frequent pollutant. Objective: The objective of this work was to determine nitrate concentration in well water samples from public supply systems and collective alternative solutions from 22 municipalities in the Marília and Assis-São Paulo regions. Method: A total of 157 water samples from wells registered in municipal health surveillance were collected and the analyses were performed by spectrophotometric method in the UV region, according to physical-chemical methods for food analysis of the Adolfo Lutz Institute. Results: From the total of 157 samples analyzed, 141 samples (89.8%) were in agreement and 16 samples (10.2%) were in disagreement with the current legislation. Conclusions: It is concluded with the results of this study that the nitrate analysis is extremely important to evaluate the risks to human health and environment. It is suggested the annual monitoring of the wells that presented nitrate concentrations between 5 and 10 mg/L and the promotion of public policies that guarantee the population access to water in accordance with current legal standards.

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