Indicadores socieconômicos e criação de áreas naturais protegidas em Minas Gerais

Nature Protection Areas (NPA) are important in the modern world, although still created with no well-defined criteria, overall in state and municipal spheres. In addition, there are no consistent information on the existence or factors that influence the creation and distribution of these areas. The present work had the objectives of identifying the Nature Protection Areas in Minas Gerais, Brazil, considering the municipalities and their mesoregions; perform a space-temporal analysis of the NPAs in Minas Gerais; relate the existence of NPAs with the Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) and the municipal Gini Index (GI); relate the existence of NPA with the space-temporal and population density of each municipality; relate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the presence of NPAs; relate the existence of NPAs with the occurrence of preservation areas in municipalities within the Atlantic Forest Biome; and verify the influence of the Ecological Sales and Services Tax (Ecological ICMS) institute over the creation of municipal NPAs in Minas Gerais. To reach these objectives, we researched databases, governmental websites, contacted managers and sent questionnaires to the 853 municipalities of Minas Gerais. After tabulating the data, statistical tests were applied to verify possible correlations. The results showed that the state has 9.26% of its territory protected, with the predominance of units of Sustainable Use, especially Environmental Protection Areas, which constitute 69.9% of this area. Only 1.96% of the territory are protected by Integral Protection (IP). We found no correlation between MHDI and the presence of NPAs. However, we verified that municipalities with IP units present higher GI when compared to the others, suggesting that the presence of this conservation unit (CU) model may be associated to social inequality. The results also showed a higher concentration CU in regions that use little of its natural resources as main economic basis and in municipalities with higher GDP. We also registered a positive correlation between the size of the municipalities, of the mesoregions, preserved area of the Atlantic Forest and population density. The Ecological ICMS did not contribute for a better IP in the state and, currently, does not represent an incentive to the creation of CU in Minas Gerais, even in the case of Environmental Protection Areas. This work registered a high degree of vulnerability if the protection system in this state, based on low restriction conservation units.

Quantification of arsenic in sugar cane brandy of minas gerais using carbon paste electrode modified with carbon nanotubes

An eletroanalytical method for determination of arsenic in sugar cane brandy using an electrode consisting of carbon paste modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTPE) and mineral oil has been developed. The cyclic (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry modes (LSV) with cathodic stripping were employed for CNTPE containing mineral oil. The analytical curves were linear from 30.0 to 80.0 µg L-1 for LSV. The limit of detection (L.O.D.) was 10.45 μg L-1 and limit of quantification (L.O.Q.) was 34.33 μg L-1. The developed method was applied to the determination of arsenic in tree commercial sugar cane brandy samples. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by HGAAS, showing that CNTPE containing mineral oil can be successfully employed to the simultaneous determination of arsenic in sugar cane brandy samples.

Síntese do complexo ferro (III) com ácido pirazina tetracarboxílico e aplicação como catalisador em reação fenton

The amount of waste generated by industries has increased gradually in recent years. The proper disposal of residues has been an area of study of many researchers. Several organic compounds are considered potential contaminants of natural waters due to their high toxicity, difficult natural degradation and long persistence in the environment. Ways of recovery and reutilization as well as concepts that minimize the generation of wastes have been increasing widely. Organometallic compound of pyrazine carboxylic acid has proven to be of great interest in many areas. Herein, we studied the use of pyrazine tetracarboxylic acid ligand for complex formation with iron (Fe). The binder (C 8H4N2O8) was synthetized with the addition of Fe (complex) and tested as a catalyst in oxidation reactions of the organic model compound methylene blue (MB). Tetramethyl pyrazine was used in the synthesis, which was oxidized with potassium permanganate in order to form the ligand. The ligand (C 8H4N2O8) was then characterized to validate its formation. For the complex solution, it was used (C 8H4N2O8) and Fe (NO3)3.9H2O 0,01molL-1. After preliminary tests, it was found that the best ratio of Fe and the ligand was 2: 1. Through the oxidation tests, it could be seen that the complex has great potential for the degradation of different concentrations of MB. During only 20 minutes of reaction, approximately 60% of MB 500 mgL -1 was oxidized. The use of the complex was found to be an attractive alternative for oxidation of effluents with high organic compounds levels and contributes to the minimization of organic contaminants hazards in the environment.