Result of a Cooperation Term between Funasa (National health Foundation) and the Sérgio Arouca National Public Health School (“Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca (Ensp/Fiocruz)”), the project entitled “evaluation of the quality of the water aimed at supplying the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area as related to the presence of endocrine deregulators and estrogenic activity” has Fiotec’s support. The study’s objective is to inform the occurrence of compounds in the two most important rivers which capture and distributed drinking water to the State of Rio de Janeiro: the Guandu and Paraíba do Sul Rivers.

The evaluation will be made through monitoring over a 12 month period, which can trace a contamination profiles. The Project also aims to stimulate technical and scientific development with the training of professional and validation of analytical methods which can be used in future studies.

Considered as natural and synthetic endocrine deregulators are, bisphenol-A, surfactants, anti-microbial agents and perfluorate compounds. With the results, there will be a critical evaluation and analysis of its implications.

Rivers

The Guandu River is 108km long and of great importance for the State of Rio de Janeiro, as its waters supply the Greater Rio area. It is located in Sepetiba Bay, between the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Itaguaí.

The Rio Paraíba do Sul River, which is 1,137 km long, flows through the States of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The river crossed the well-known socioeconomic region known as the Paraíba Valley and is the most important river in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is formed by the confluence of the Paraitinga and Paraibuna Rivers.

Funasa

The National Health Foundation (Funasa), executive organ of the Health Ministry is one of the Federal Government Institutions responsible for promotion social inclusion through sanitation actions for disease prevention and control. It is also the institution responsible for health promotion and protection actions established by the National Environmental Health Vigilance Subsystem.

*Information available on the Funasa website