The Amazon rainforest plays a crucial role in the global climate system, acting as a major carbon sink and influencing regional and global weather patterns. Understanding the chemical composition of rainwater is essential for assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities, such as deforestation and industrial emissions, on atmospheric chemistry and hydrology. This work aimed to characterize the chemical composition of rainwater in a biological reserve of primary forest in the central Brazilian Amazon at 60 km of a large urban center. Rainwater samples were collected from March 2008 to March 2010 and were analyzed by ion chromatography, ICP-MS, and TOC-V. This is the only and longest rainfall monitoring carried out in this reserve. The results showed that the rainwater is rich in organic carbon (TOC), representing 77% of total carbon. The most abundant ions were NH4 + and Cl- . Few elem...

Rice (Oryza sativa L) is an important source of essential elements but also can contain high As concentrations, which may be consumed and causes health effects. This work aimed to contribute to the lack of information quantifying the total arsenic (tAs) in 31 domestic rice (white rice, n=19; brown rice, n=7; parboiled rice, n=5) of different brands purchased in Peruvian markets. The tAs content was conducted by ICP-MS. The tAs concentration was compared to the maximum limits prescribed by regulatory agencies. Dietary intake (DI), dietary exposure (DE), and margin of exposure (MOE) were estimated. tAs concentration in white, brown and parboiled rice were 0.292 ± 0.106 mg/kg, 0.401 ± 0.081 mg/kg, 0.229 ± 0.03 mg/kg, respectively. Arsenic concentration in white rice exceeded limits recommended by FAO/WHO (0.20 mg kg-1), and European legislation (0.25 mg kg-1), but no Mercosul limits (0.3...

Rice (Oryza sativa L) is an important source of essential elements but also can contain high As concentrations, which may be consumed and causes health effects. This work aimed to contribute to the lack of information quantifying the total arsenic (tAs) in 31 domestic rice (white rice, n=19; brown rice, n=7; parboiled rice, n=5) of different brands purchased in Peruvian markets. The tAs content was conducted by ICP-MS. The tAs concentration was compared to the maximum limits prescribed by regulatory agencies. Dietary intake (DI), dietary exposure (DE), and margin of exposure (MOE) were estimated. tAs concentration in white, brown and parboiled rice were 0.292 ± 0.106 mg/kg, 0.401 ± 0.081 mg/kg, 0.229 ± 0.03 mg/kg, respectively. Arsenic concentration in white rice exceeded limits recommended by FAO/WHO (0.20 mg kg-1), and European legislation (0.25 mg kg-1), but no Mercosul limits (0.3...

Rice (Oryza sativa L) is an important source of essential elements but also can contain high As concentrations, which may be consumed and causes health effects. This work aimed to contribute to the lack of information quantifying the total arsenic (tAs) in 31 domestic rice (white rice, n=19; brown rice, n=7; parboiled rice, n=5) of different brands purchased in Peruvian markets. The tAs content was conducted by ICP-MS. The tAs concentration was compared to the maximum limits prescribed by regulatory agencies. Dietary intake (DI), dietary exposure (DE), and margin of exposure (MOE) were estimated. tAs concentration in white, brown and parboiled rice were 0.292 ± 0.106 mg/kg, 0.401 ± 0.081 mg/kg, 0.229 ± 0.03 mg/kg, respectively. Arsenic concentration in white rice exceeded limits recommended by FAO/WHO (0.20 mg kg-1), and European legislation (0.25 mg kg-1), but no Mercosul limits (0.3...

This study evaluated the pollutant levels (NO2, SO2, CO, and O3), air quality index (AQI) and the influence of meteorological variables and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the air quality in Rio de Janeiro. The data set used comprises periods before (March-April, 2019) and during pandemic (March-April, 2020). According to the AQI results, on most days, the air quality was ranked as “good”. Brazilian air quality standards for SO2, O3, and NO2 were not exceeded in any of the monitoring stations during partial lockdown, while CO exceeded in all periods in one site due to industrial emission. Comparing both periods, descriptive statistics for the meteorological parameters presented no differences, which suggests similar conditions. However, when evaluated week by week in 2020, weather conditions presented some differences that probably affected pollutant concentrations. The co...