EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN AQUATIC MATRICES FROM BRAZIL: CURRENT SCENARIO AND ANALYTICAL, ECOTOXICOLOGICAL AND LEGISLATIONAL ASPECTS

Emerging contaminants occur in parts per trillion or less in aquatic matrices. The effects related to the exposure of aquatic biota and human to them have been identified for different compounds. The knowledge about the concentrations of the exposure is the first step to perform risk assessments. The present work describes a literature review about occurrence in Brazilian aquatic matrices, and a discussion about biological effects, legislation and analytical aspects involving the presence of emerging compounds. The review includes 58 papers published between 1997 and 2016, considering the occurrence of personal care and pharmaceutical compounds, illicit drugs, hormones, pesticides and some other endocrine disruptors compounds in the matrices sewage, surface, ground and drinking waters. The concentrations varied from ng L-1 to mu g L-1, depending on the region and the compound. However, the contamination scenario was aggravated by the combination of poor sanitation status - such as low investment in sewage treatment plants, which led to an expressive contamination of the receiving waters with sewage - and the current goods consumption level, which is similar to that of developed countries. These data provide a good insight into the particular levels of contamination and can be used both for further researches and decision making in the regulation area of public policy.