EVALUATION OF HUMAN EXPOSURE TO HEXACHLOROBENZENE AT SAMARITÁ, SÃO VICENTE, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Na area de Samarita, cidade de Sao Vicente, Sao Paulo, Brasil, residuos quimicos industriais foram descartados por varios anos, sem protecao ambiental, contendo 55 a 85% de hexaclorobenzeno (HCB) e outros produtos em menores quantidades. Para avaliar o impacto a saude foram analisados soro sanguineo de 234 pessoas de diversos bairros da regiao, com mais de 2 anos de residencia, subdivididos em 6 setores: A - Quarentenario e vizinhanca do lixo industrial a 67 km; B - Jardim Rio Branco; C - Parque das Bandeiras; D - Gleba II; E - Vila Samarita; F - Vila Ema, Vila Iolanda, Vila Mathias. Dez amostras de soro sanguineo de habitantes de Itanhaem, area considerada nao exposta, foram coletados para fornecer dados de referencia. HCB nao foi encontrado em nenhuma destas amostras. Residuos de HCB foram analisados por cromatografia a gas com detetor de captura de eletrons e limite de determinacao de 0,02 µg/dL. Os niveis medios de HCB no soro sanguineo dos moradores mostraram-se significativamente diferentes (p Abstract In the Samarita area of Sao Vicente city, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, a chemical industry discarded for several years, with no environmental protection, a mixture of residues containing 55 to 85% of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and others in smaller quantities. In order to evaluate the impact of these residues on the health of the local population, blood serum samples taken from 234 people dwelling at several quarters of this area for over two years were analyzed, divided into 6 sectors: A - Quarentenario and neighborhood of the industrial wastes dump at 67-km; B - Jardim Rio Branco; C - Parque das Bandeiras; D - Gleba II; E -Vila Samarita; F -Vila Ema, Vila Iolanda, Vila Mathias. Ten blood samples from residents of an area considered no exposed from Itanhaem city were collected to provide baseline information and HCB was not found in any of the samples. HCB residues were analysed by gas chromatography with an electron capture detector, with a determination limit of 0.02 µg/dL. The mean of HCB in blood serum for the inhabitants of the affected area presented significant differences (p