January 6, 2023

15:01

Ívina Garcia – from Amazon Agency

MANAUS – The Amazonas State Water, Air and Soil Monitoring Program, developed by the Amazonas State University (UEA), with support from the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (Ipaam), will map the water quality of the main rivers in Amazonas and identify the State’s pH.

The expedition will use the research boat “Roberto dos Santos Vieira”, with a team of 17 researchers that, besides the waters, will map the soil and the air. Coordinated by professor and doctor Sergio Duvoisin Junior, the campaign by the Rio Negro to São Gabriel da Cachoeira part next day 10 and back on January 22.

One of the main objectives of the research is to map the pH of the Amazon waters, that is because the system currently used is the same used in São Paulo rivers, which do not correspond with the Amazon reality.

“The research has already existed for three years, and with this campaign we are going to take an important step towards mapping the water quality index of the Amazon”, explains Duvoisin Junior, responsible for the study.

Another target of the campaign is the Solimões River, known for its mining invasion. According to Sergio, the presence of mercury in Solimões River is obvious, but it is not known how much it affects the surrounding area.

“We will map the waters at three different levels of surface, medium and deep, in addition to detecting the presence of mercury in soils and in the main fish consumed in the region”, points out the researcher.

The data collected by the research will be available on the site of the Research Group Chemistry Applied to Technology and can be used for production of articles, materials and especially map the current environmental state of the Amazon to be used as a basis for environmental public policies by the Government of Amazonas.