Does ISO 14001 work in Brazil?

As a result of increasing global awareness about the importance of the environment, depletion of natural resources and legal pressures for companies to manage their processes in a sustainable manner, ISO 14001 systems have been gaining increasingly more importance in the organizational scenario. These elements are even more critical in emerging nations due to less awareness and fewer demands by governments and the population in relation to environmental issues. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to verify the benefits and difficulties of Environmental Management Systems based on ISO 14001 at industries in the state of São Paulo – Brazil (an emerging country) by conducting a survey to subsidize the proposal for actions in the public, academic and private sectors to promote the use of this standard of reference and strengthen its results in Brazil. A questionnaire was sent to 194 companies from the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality database. 69 answered, representing a return rate of 35.36%. The main benefits identified are related to the development of preventive environmental actions, reduction in the consumption of power, water, gas and fuel oil, and a positive influence on other internal management processes. The main difficulties are related to cost increases from ISO 14001 management systems and the constant changes in environmental legislation in Brazil. Some actions are proposed at the end of the analyses to intensify the use and improve the results of this standard, such as changes in government legislation and its collective development and implementation in industries.     

Effects of gas flow rate, inlet concentration and temperature on the biofiltration of toluene vapors

In this work the variation in the elimination capacity of a biofilter as a function of the gas flow and toluene concentration was studied. A bioreactor 0.75 m high x 14.5 cm diameter was used, divided into three equal stages, using compost to support the microorganisms, and sea shells to control the pH. The biofiltration of toluene was evaluated for flows between 0.12 and 0.73 m(3)h(-1) in a concentration range of 1-3.2 gm(-3). It was observed that on increasing the toluene inlet load by 90% (from 37 to 70 gm(3)h(-1)), the conversion by the biofilter varied by only 5% (from 98% to 93%). The biofiltration system used achieved elimination capacities of up to 82 gm(-3)h(-1) for a toluene load of 100 gm(-3)h(-1).     

Removal of famoxadone,fluquinconazole and trifloxystrobin residues in red wines: Effects of clarification and filtration processes

The effects of six clarification agents [egg albumin, blood albumin, bentonite + gelatine, charcoal, polyvinylpolypyrrolidine (PVPP) and silica gel] on the removal of residues of three fungicides (famoxadone, fluquinconazole and trifloxystrobin) applied directly to a racked red wine, elaborated from Monastrell variety grapes from the D.O. Region of Jumilla (Murcia, Spain) were studied. The clarified wines were filtered with 0.45 μ m nylon filters to determine the influence of this winemaking process in the disappearance of fungicide residues. Analytical determination of fluquinconazole and trifloxystrobin was performed by gas chromatography with electron captor detector (ECD), while that of famoxadone using an HPLC equipped with a diode array detector (DAD). Generally, trifloxystrobin is the fungicide that is the lowest persistent one in wines, except in the egg albumin study whereas, the most persistent one is fluquinconazole. The elimination depends on the nature of the active ingredient, though the water stability in the presence of light within it has more influence than the solubility and polarity of the product itself. The most effective clarifying agents were the charcoal and PVPP. The silica gel and bentonite plus gelatine were not enough to reduce considerably the residual contents in the wine clarified with them. In general terms, filtration is not an effective step in the elimination of wine residues. The greatest removal after filtration is obtained in wines clarified with egg albumine and bentonite plus gelatine, and the lowest in those clarified with PVPP.     

Environmental Surveillance of Polioviruses in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, in Support to the Activities of Global Polio Eradication Initiative

Wild polioviruses still remain endemic in three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria) and re-emergency of wild polio has been reported in previously polio-free countries. Environmental surveillance has been used as a supplementary tool in monitoring the circulation of wild poliovirus (PVs) and/or vaccine-derived PVs even in the absence of acute flaccid paralysis cases. This study aimed to monitor the presence of polioviruses in wastewater samples collected at one wastewater treatment plant located in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From December 2011 to June 2012 and from September to December 2012, 31 samples were collected and processed. RD and L20B cell cultures were able to isolate PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in 27/31 samples. Polioviruses were isolated in eight samples (type 1 Sabin = 1, type 2 Sabin = 5, and type 3 Sabin = 2). Vaccine-derived polioviruses were not detected nor evidence of recombination with other PVs or non-polio enterovirus serotypes were observed among the isolates. The Sabin-related serotypes 2 and 3 presented nucleotide substitutions in positions associated with the neurovirulent phenotype at the 5′-UTR. Changes in important Amino acid residues at VP1 were also observed in the serotypes 2 and 3. Environmental surveillance has been used successfully in monitoring the circulation of PVs and non-polio enteroviruses and it is of crucial importance in the final stages of the WHO global polio eradication initiative. Our results show the continuous circulation of Sabin-like PVs and non-polio enteroviruses in the analyzed area during the study period.     

Interaction effects of organic load and cycle time in an AsBr applied to a personal care industry wastewater treatment

A mechanically stirred anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) containing granular biomass was applied to the treatment of a wastewater simulating the effluent from a personal care industry. The ASBR was operated with cycle lengths (t_C) of 8, 12 and 24 h and applied volumetric organic loads (AVOL) of 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 gCOD/L.d, treating 2.0 L liquid medium per cycle. Stirring frequency was 150 rpm and the reactor was kept in an isothermal chamber at 30 °C. Increase in t_C resulted in efficiency increase at constant AVOL, reaching 77% at t_C of 24 h versus 69% at t_C of 8 h. However, efficiency decreased when AVOL decreased as a function of increasing t_C, due to the lack of substrate in the reaction medium. Moreover, replacing part of the wastewater by a chemically balanced synthetic one did not yield the expected effect and system efficiency dropped.     

Use of mix of clay/solid waste from steel works for civil construction materials.

The present study focuses on the use of solid waste generated by the steel works in Brazil for manufacturing clay-based structural products. The waste sample was characterized regarding chemical composition, X-ray diffraction, particle size, morphology, specific surface and plastic properties. The waste was added in gradual proportions to a kaolinitic clay from zero up to 3 wt.%. Ceramic bodies were formed by vacuum extrusion and fired at 950 degrees C. The physical-mechanical properties (linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent density and flexural strength) of the resulting clay/solid waste mixtures were determined. In addition, leaching tests were performed according Brazilian Standards as well as a preliminary analysis of gases evolved during the thermal process. It was found that the solid waste is formed by irregular particles, ranging in size from 1 to 500 microm. The test results indicate that solid wastes generated by steel works can be used as filler in construction materials, thereby increasing reuse in an environmentally safe manner.     

Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.