Ammonia inactivation of Ascaris ova in ecological compost by using urine and ash.

Viable ova of Ascaris lumbricoides, an indicator organism for pathogens, are frequently found in feces-derived compost produced from ecological toilets, demonstrating that threshold levels of time, temperature, pH, and moisture content for pathogen inactivation are not routinely met. Previous studies have determined that NH(3) has ovicidal properties for pathogens, including Ascaris ova. This research attempted to achieve Ascaris inactivation via NH(3) under environmental conditions commonly found in ecological toilets and using materials universally available in an ecological sanitation setting, including compost (feces and sawdust), urine, and ash. Compost mixed with stored urine and ash produced the most rapid inactivation, with significant inactivation observed after 2 weeks and with a time to 99% ovum inactivation (T(99)) of 8 weeks. Compost mixed with fresh urine and ash achieved a T(99) of 15 weeks, after a 4-week lag phase. Both matrices had relatively high total-ammonia concentrations and pH values of >9.24 (pK(a) of ammonia). In compost mixed with ash only, and in compost mixed with fresh urine only, inactivation was observed after an 11-week lag phase. These matrices contained NH(3) concentrations of 164 to 173 and 102 to 277 mg/liter, respectively, when inactivation occurred, which was below the previously hypothesized threshold for inactivation (280 mg/liter), suggesting that a lower threshold NH(3) concentration may be possible with a longer contact time. Other significant results include the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia between pH values of 10.4 and 11.6, above the literature threshold pH of 10.

[Environmental sanitation and mortality associated with waterborne diseases in children under 5 years of age in Brazil]. / Saneamiento ambiental y mortalidad en niños menores de 5 años por enfermedades de transmisión hídrica en Brasil.

OBJECTIVE: Determine and evaluate the relationship between the variables for water conditions, environmental sanitation, and mortality in children under 5 years of age associated with a group of waterborne diseases. METHODS: An exploratory ecological study was conducted based on data obtained from the 2000 national demographic census and the Unified Health System for the 558 microregions of Brazil. The model used multiple linear regression analysis. Mortality associated with waterborne diseases in children under 5 years of age was considered to be the response variable. Water conditions, sanitation, and level of education were considered to be explanatory variables. RESULTS: A direct relationship was observed between inadequate sanitation in the dwelling (e.g., sewage disposal via rudimentary gutters and pits, the disposal of waste in uncultivated land or public areas) and mortality in children under 5 years of age associated with waterborne diseases. An inverse relationship was found between level of education and mortality associated with waterborne diseases in these children. CONCLUSIONS: The greatest health hazards related to poor sanitation were found in the microregions with a high concentration of low-income population with limited education. The general sanitation conditions and other factors related to dwelling quality and infrastructure are major determinants of mortality. Coverage of the water services, which reach 90% of households in Brazil, was not in itself found to be an important factor in the reduction of the mortality studied.

Saneamiento ambiental y mortalidad en niños menores de 5 años por enfermedades de transmisión hídrica en Brasil / Environmental sanitation and mortality associated with waterborne diseases in children under 5 years of age in Brazil

OBJETIVO: Determinar y evaluar las asociaciones entre las variables que reflejan las condiciones del agua y el saneamiento ambiental y la mortalidad en niños menores de 5 años por un grupo de enfermedades de transmisión hídrica. MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio ecológico y exploratorio a partir de datos obtenidos del Censo Demográfico Nacional de 2000 y del Sistema Único de Salud para las 558 micro-regiones de Brasil. El modelo aplicó la técnica de regresión lineal múltiple y consideró como variable de respuesta la mortalidad por enfermedades de transmisión hídrica en menores de 5 años y, como variables explicativas, las condiciones del agua y el saneamiento y el nivel de escolaridad. RESULTADOS: Se observó una relación directa entre saneamiento inadecuado en la vivienda -incluidos desagües por canaletas y fosas rudimentarias, y disposición de la basura en terrenos baldíos o áreas públicas- y mortalidad en menores de 5 años por enfermedades de transmisión hídrica. También se encontró una relación inversa entre el nivel de escolaridad y la mortalidad de esos menores por dichas causas. CONCLUSIONES: Los mayores riesgos para la salud derivados del saneamiento inapropiado se registraron en las micro-regiones con gran concentración de poblaciones que, además de su condición económica humilde, tenían bajo nivel de escolaridad. Se destacan, como determinantes de la mortalidad, las condiciones generales de saneamiento y también otros factores asociados a la calidad y la infraestructura de las viviendas. La cobertura de abastecimiento de agua -que en Brasil alcanza a 90 por ciento de los hogares- no se mostró por sí sola como factor importante en la reducción de la mortalidad estudiada.

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: Determine and evaluate the relationship between the variables for water conditions, environmental sanitation, and mortality in children under 5 years of age associated with a group of waterborne diseases. METHODS: An exploratory ecological study was conducted based on data obtained from the 2000 national demographic census and the Unified Health System for the 558 microregions of Brazil. The model used multiple linear regression analysis. Mortality associated with waterborne diseases in children under 5 years of age was considered to be the response variable. Water conditions, sanitation, and level of education were considered to be explanatory variables. RESULTS: A direct relationship was observed between inadequate sanitation in the dwelling (e.g., sewerage disposal via rudimentary gutters and pits, the disposal of waste in uncultivated land or public areas) and mortality in children under 5 years of age associated with waterborne diseases. An inverse relationship was found between level of education and mortality associated with waterborne diseases in these children. CONCLUSIONS: The greatest health hazards related to poor sanitation were found in the microregions with a high concentration of low-income population with limited education. The general sanitation conditions and other factors related to dwelling quality and infrastructure are major determinants of mortality. Coverage of the water services, which reach 90 percent of households in Brazil, was not in itself found to be an important factor in the reduction of the mortality studied.

Reductions in the prevalence and incidence of geohelminth infections following a city-wide sanitation program in a Brazilian Urban Centre.

OBJECTIVE: In the city of Salvador, a large urban centre in Northeast Brazil, a city-wide sanitation intervention started in 1997, aimed at improving the sewerage coverage of households from 26% to 80%. Our aim was to study the impact of the intervention on the prevalence and incidence of geohelminths in the school-aged population. METHODS: THE STUDY COMPRISED TWO COMPARABLE COHORTS: the first assembled in 1997, before the intervention, and the second assembled in 2003, after the intervention. Both were sampled from 24 sentinel areas chosen to represent the different environmental conditions throughout the city. Copro-parasitological examinations were carried out on every individual from both cohorts, at baseline and nine months later. Demographic, socio-economic, and environmental data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and environmental surveys. A hierarchical modelling approach fitting a sequence of Poisson multivariate linear models was undertaken to test the effect of the intervention variables on the prevalence and incidence rate ratios. FINDINGS: 729 and 890 children aged 7-14 years (mean = 10.4 y, SD = 0.05 y) were analysed over the first and the second cohorts, respectively. The adjusted reductions of the prevalence and incidence rates at the second in relation to the first cohort were 27% and 34%, 25% and 32%, 33% and 26%, and 82% and 42% for geohelminths overall, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and hookworm, respectively. Hierarchical modelling showed that a major part of each of these reductions was explained by the intervention. CONCLUSION: Our results show that a city-wide sanitation program may reduce significantly the prevalence and incidence of geohelminths.

[From hygiene to the building of a city: the state and sanitation in Rio de Janeiro]. / Da higiene à construção da cidade: o estado e o saneamento no Rio de Janeiro.

The paper offers a historical analysis of the creation of the sector responsible for inaugurating and managing Rio de Janeiro's basic sanitary services, examining the period from the mid-nineteenth century, when sanitary issues were first posed, through the 1920s. The analysis centers on the relation between the service structure established by the state, on the one hand, and urban space, on the other, taking a particular look at the special interests involved in creation of this structure. Exploring the vast literature available on Rio de Janeiro's urban world at that time, the present text supplements this with an analysis focused above all on the architecting of Brazil's first policies on sanitation infrastructure.

Esgotamento sanitário condominial: as experiências de Natal e Petrolina / Sewage treatment: Natal and Petrolina experiences

Discorre sobre a atuaçäo do Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e social (BNDES) na área de saúde e saneamento no Brasil. Analisa o cenário de saúde e saneamento do país: déficit no atendimento das necessidades de saneamento básico das populaçöes de baixa renda, alta mortalidade infantil e incidência de doenças pela falta de serviços de infra-estrutura adequada nos bolsöes de pobreza das periferias urbanas. Apresenta as dificuldades para a implantaçäo de serviços de esgotamento sanitário nessas áreas: as redes convencionais de esgoto näo se adequam a traçados urbanos näo convencionais (favelas e loteamentos de geometria irregular). Relata que avaliaçoes preliminares de experiências executadas através de um sistema alternativo de saneamento - o sistema condominial - indicavam resultados positivos, com elevado índice de adesäo dos moradores ao sistema e baixo custo de investimento o que levou o BNDES/FINSOCIAL a apoiar alguns projetos que pudessem produzir uma avaliaçäo das vantagens daquela tecnologia. Apresenta a descriçäo técnica dos princípios do sistema condominial de esgotamento sanitário e um resumo dos resultados observados em dois projetos apoiados pelo BNDES, nos municípios de Natal e Petrolina. (NMPM)