ODS/14 - Vida na água
URI Permanente desta comunidade
Objetivo: Conservação e uso sustentável dos oceanos, dos mares e dos recursos marinhos para o desenvolvimento sustentável.
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- ODS/14 - Vida na água
- ODS/14 - Vida na água
- ODS/14 - Vida na água
Submissões Recentes
Life Cycle Assessment Applied to End-of-Life Scenarios of Sargassum spp. for Application in Civil Construction
(2023) BUENO, Cristiane; ROSSIGNOLO, Joao Adriano; GAVIOLI, Leticia Missiatto; SPOSITO, Camila Cassola Assuncao; TONIN, Fernando Gustavo; VERAS, Mariana Matera; MORAES, Maria Julia Bassan de; LYRA, Gabriela Pitolli
Environmental risks and vulnerabilities in coastal regions include the massive deposits of brown algae of the genus Sargassum in regions such as the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and northern Brazil. Efforts have been made to turn this problem into an opportunity by seeking new uses for this biomass in the sectors of food, agriculture, health, biofuels, bioremediation, and civil construction. Thus, this study aimed to produce quantitative data for different end-of-life scenarios of the Sargassum algae, seeking for potential applications of this macroalgae in the civil construction sector. For this purpose, we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) study of the Sargassum algae, in its natural destination, and evaluated its potential impact. This evaluation was then compared to the possible impacts of alternatives to their end of life, such as landfill disposal, drying and grinding to use as fibers or particles, burning the biomass to generate energy and fly ash, using a consequential LCA and the indicators of the ReCiPe 2016 method. For each of the proposed scenarios, the functional unit of 1 kg of the three types of unprocessed Sargassum algae that are found in the Brazilian deposits (natans I, natans VIII, and fluitans) was considered separately, and also for a composition that is closer to that found in the Brazilian deposits (50% fluitans, 15% natans I, and 35% natans VIII). The results for both natural decomposition scenarios demonstrated a dominant contribution to the categories of impact for climate change, marine eutrophication, and land use, thus justifying the search for new initiatives for the use of the algae. The burning process showed a significant contribution to most of the indicators, with emphasis on the massive generation of particulate, inherent to the biomass burning process; however, it showed a reduction in the magnitude of climate change emissions from around 47% to less than 2%. Finally, the proposed scenario of processing Sargassum biomass to obtain particles presented prevalence of magnitude for potential impact in most of the proposed indicators, due to the processes with high electricity consumption, but keeping climate change emissions' relative reduction from 47% to 6%. Thus, new studies may further investigate the potential of application of these materials in different products and components of civil construction.
Systematic Surveillance and Meta-Analysis of Antimicrobial Resistance and Food Sources from China and the USA
(2022) Himanshu; PRUDENCIO, Carlos R.; COSTA, Antonio Charlys da; LEAL, Elcio; CHANG, Chung-Ming; PANDEY, Ramendra Pati
Since the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century, they have been used to fight against infections. The overuse of antibiotics in the wider environment has resulted in the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. In developing countries such as China and developed countries such as the USA, there is evidence of the high pervasiveness of antibiotic-resistant infections. However, the studies on the spread of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms that inform about the consequences are limited. The aim of our study was to analyze and compare antimicrobial resistance (AMR) identified in published research papers from that found in different food sources, which were published between 2012 and December 2021, covering most retail food items. Out of 132 research papers identified, 26 papers have met our strict criteria and are included in the qualitative and quantitative analysis. The selected papers led to 13,018 food samples, out of which 5000 samples were contaminated, including 2276 and 2724 samples from China and the USA, respectively. Meat, aquatic products, milk, and eggs show high to medium potential for AMR exposure to Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Enterococci, etc. and Gram-negative foodborne pathogens such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, Vibrio, etc. Most of the food samples show antibiotic resistance to beta-lactams, tetracycline, quinolones, and aminoglycosides. Retail food products such as meat, sea food, and some other food products, as well as AMR genetics and technically important bacteria, are proposed to be better merged with mitigation strategies and systematic One Health AMR surveillance to minimize the knowledge gaps and facilitate comprehensive AMR risk computation for the consumers.
When One Health Meets the United Nations Ocean Decade: Global Agendas as a Pathway to Promote Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research on Human-Nature Relationships
(2022) MASTERSON-ALGAR, Patricia; JENKINS, Stuart R.; WINDLE, Gill; MORRIS-WEBB, Elisabeth; TAKAHASHI, Camila K.; BURKE, Trys; ROSA, Isabel; MARTINEZ, Aline S.; TORRES-MATTOS, Emanuela B.; TADDEI, Renzo; MORRISON, Val; KASTEN, Paula; BRYNING, Lucy; OLIVEIRA, Nara R. Cruz de; GONCALVES, Leandra R.; SKOV, Martin W.; BEYNON-DAVIES, Ceri; BUMBEER, Janaina; SALDIVA, Paulo H. N.; LEAO, Eliseth; CHRISTOFOLETTI, Ronaldo A.
Strong evidence shows that exposure and engagement with the natural world not only improve human wellbeing but can also help promote environmentally friendly behaviors. Human-nature relationships are at the heart of global agendas promoted by international organizations including the World Health Organization's (WHO) ""One Health"" and the United Nations (UN) ""Ocean Decade."" These agendas demand collaborative multisector interdisciplinary efforts at local, national, and global levels. However, while global agendas highlight global goals for a sustainable world, developing science that directly addresses these agendas from design through to delivery and outputs does not come without its challenges. In this article, we present the outcomes of international meetings between researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers from the United Kingdom and Brazil. We propose a model for interdisciplinary work under such global agendas, particularly the interface between One Health and the UN Ocean Decade and identify three priority research areas closely linked to each other: human-nature connection, conservation-human behavior, and implementation strategies (bringing stakeholders together). We also discuss a number of recommendations for moving forward.
Taxonomic and functional heterogeneity of the gill microbiome in a symbiotic coastal mangrove lucinid species
(2019) LIM, Shen Jean; DAVIS, Brenton G.; GILL, Danielle E.; WALTON, Jillian; NACHMAN, Erika; ENGEL, Annette Summers; ANDERSON, Laurie C.; CAMPBELL, Barbara J.
Lucinidae clams harbor gammaproteobacterial thioautotrophic gill endosymbionts that are environmentally acquired. Thioautotrophic lucinid symbionts are related to metabolically similar symbionts associated with diverse marine host taxa and fall into three distinct phylogenetic clades. Most studies on the lucinid-bacteria chemosymbiosis have been done with seagrass-dwelling hosts, whose symbionts belong to the largest phylogenetic clade. In this study, we examined the taxonomy and functional repertoire of bacterial endosymbionts at an unprecedented resolution from Phacoides pectinatus retrieved from mangrove-lined coastal sediments, which are underrepresented in chemosymbiosis studies. The P. pectinatus thioautotrophic endosymbiont expressed metabolic gene variants for thioautotrophy, respiration, and nitrogen assimilation distinct from previously characterized lucinid thioautotrophic symbionts and other marine symbionts. At least two other bacterial species with different metabolisms were also consistently identified in the P. pectinatus gill microbiome, including a Kistimonas-like species and a Spirochaeta-like species. Bacterial transcripts involved in adhesion, growth, and virulence and mixotrophy were highly expressed, as were host-related hemoglobin and lysozyme transcripts indicative of sulfide/oxygen/CO2 transport and bactericidal activity. This study suggests the potential roles of P. pectinatus and its gill microbiome species in mangrove sediment biogeochemistry and offers insights into host and microbe metabolisms in the habitat.
Global, regional, and national burden of tuberculosis, 1990-2016: results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2016 Study
(2018) KYU, Hmwe Hmwe; MADDISON, Emilie R.; HENRY, Nathaniel J.; LEDESMA, Jorge R.; WIENS, Kirsten E.; REINER JR., Robert; BIEHL, Molly H.; SHIELDS, Chloe; OSGOOD-ZIMMERMAN, Aaron; ROSS, Jennifer M.; CARTER, Austin; FRANK, Tahvi D.; WANG, Haidong; SRINIVASAN, Vinay; ABEBE, Zegeye; AGARWAL, Sanjay Kumar; ALAHDAB, Fares; ALENE, Kefyalew Addis; ALI, Beriwan Abdulqadir; ALVIS-GUZMAN, Nelson; ANDREWS, Jason R.; ANTONIO, Carl Abelardo T.; ATIQUE, Suleman; ATRE, Sachin R.; AWASTHI, Ashish; AYELE, Henok Tadesse; BADALI, Hamid; BADAWI, Alaa; BARAC, Aleksandra; BEDI, Neeraj; BEHZADIFAR, Masoud; BEHZADIFAR, Meysam; BEKELE, Bayu Begashaw; BELAY, Saba Abraham; BENSENOR, Isabela M.; BUTT, Zahid A.; CARVALHO, Felix; CERCY, Kelly; CHRISTOPHER, Devasahayam J.; DABA, Alemneh Kabeta; DANDONA, Lalit; DANDONA, Rakhi; DARYANI, Ahmad; DEMEKE, Feleke Mekonnen; DERIBE, Kebede; DHARMARATNE, Samath Dhamminda; DOKU, David Teye; DUBEY, Manisha; EDESSA, Dumessa; EL-KHATIB, Ziad; ENANY, Shymaa; FERNANDES, Eduarda; FISCHER, Florian; GARCIA-BASTEIRO, Alberto L.; GEBRE, Abadi Kahsu; GEBREGERGS, Gebremedhin Berhe; GEBREMICHAEL, Teklu Gebrehiwo; GELANO, Tilayie Feto; GEREMEW, Demeke; GONA, Philimon N.; GOODRIDGE, Amador; GUPTA, Rahul; BIDGOLI, Hassan Haghparast; HAILU, Gessessew Bugssa; HASSEN, Hamid Yimam; HEDAYATI, Mohammad T. Tadesse; HENOK, Andualem; HOSTIUC, Sorin; HUSSEN, Mamusha Aman; ILESANMI, Olayinka Stephen; IRVANI, Seyed Sina Naghibi; JACOBSEN, Kathryn H.; JOHNSON, Sarah C.; JONAS, Jost B.; KAHSAY, Amaha; KANT, Surya; KASAEIAN, Amir; KASSA, Tesfaye Dessale; KHADER, Yousef Saleh; KHAFAIE, Morteza Abdullatif; KHALIL, Ibrahim; KHAN, Ejaz Ahmad; KHANG, Young-Ho; KIM, Yun Jin; KOCHHAR, Sonali; KOYANAGI, Ai; KROHN, Kristopher J.; KUMAR, G. Anil; LAKEW, Ayenew Molla; LESHARGIE, Cheru Tesema; LODHA, Rakesh; MACARAYAN, Erlyn Rachelle King; MAJDZADEH, Reza; MARTINS-MELO, Francisco Rogerlandio; MELESE, Addisu; MEMISH, Ziad A.; MENDOZA, Walter; MENGISTU, Desalegn Tadese; MENGISTU, Getnet; MESTROVIC, Tomislav; MOAZEN, Babak; MOHAMMAD, Karzan Abdulmuhsin; MOHAMMED, Shafiu; MOKDAD, Ali H.; MOOSAZADEH, Mahmood; MOUSAVI, Seyyed Meysam; MUSTAFA, Ghulam; NACHEGA, Jean B.; Long Hoang Nguyen; Son Hoang Nguyen; Trang Huyen Nguyen; NINGRUM, Dina Nur Anggraini; NIRAYO, Yirga Legesse; Vuong Minh Nong; OFORI-ASENSO, Richard; OGBO, Felix Akpojene; OH, In-Hwan; OLADIMEJI, Olanrewaju; OLAGUNJU, Andrew T.; OREN, Eyal; PEREIRA, David M.; PRAKASH, Swayam; QORBANI, Mostafa; RAFAY, Anwar; RAI, Rajesh Kumar; RAM, Usha; RUBINO, Salvatore; SAFIRI, Saeid; SALOMON, Joshua A.; SAMY, Abdallah M.; SARTORIUS, Benn; SATPATHY, Maheswar; SEYEDMOUSAVI, Seyedmojtaba; SHARIF, Mehdi; SILVA, Joao Pedro; SILVEIRA, Dayane Gabriele Alves; SINGH, Jasvinder A.; SREERAMAREDDY, Chandrashekhar T.; TRAN, Bach Xuan; TSADIK, Afewerki Gebremeskel; UKWAJA, Kingsley Nnanna; ULLAH, Irfan; UTHMAN, Olalekan A.; VLASSOV, Vasily; VOLLSET, Stein Emil; VU, Giang; WELDEGEBREAL, Fitsum; WERDECKER, Andrea; YIMER, Ebrahim M.; YONEMOTO, Naohiro; YOTEBIENG, Marcel; NAGHAVI, Mohsen; Theo Vos; HAY, Simon I.; MURRAY, Christopher J. L.
Background Although a preventable and treatable disease, tuberculosis causes more than a million deaths each year. As countries work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, robust assessments of the levels and trends of the burden of tuberculosis are crucial to inform policy and programme decision making. We assessed the levels and trends in the fatal and non-fatal burden of tuberculosis by drug resistance and HIV status for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. Methods We analysed 15 943 site-years of vital registration data, 1710 site-years of verbal autopsy data, 764 site-years of sample-based vital registration data, and 361 site-years of mortality surveillance data to estimate mortality due to tuberculosis using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. We analysed all available data sources, including annual case notifications, prevalence surveys, population-based tuberculin surveys, and estimated tuberculosis cause-specific mortality to generate internally consistent estimates of incidence, prevalence, and mortality using DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool. We assessed how the burden of tuberculosis differed from the burden predicted by the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, average years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Findings Globally in 2016, among HIV-negative individuals, the number of incident cases of tuberculosis was 9.02 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8.05-10.16) and the number of tuberculosis deaths was 1.21 million (1.16-1.27). Among HIV-positive individuals, the number of incident cases was 1.40 million (1.01-1.89) and the number of tuberculosis deaths was 0.24 million (0.16-0.31). Globally, among HIV-negative individuals the agestandardised incidence of tuberculosis decreased annually at a slower rate (-1.3% [-1.5 to-1.2]) than mortality did (-4.5% [-5.0 to-4.1]) from 2006 to 2016. Among HIV-positive individuals during the same period, the rate of change in annualised age-standardised incidence was-4.0% (-4.5 to -3.7) and mortality was-8.9% (-9.5 to-8.4). Several regions had higher rates of age-standardised incidence and mortality than expected on the basis of their SDI levels in 2016. For drug-susceptible tuberculosis, the highest observed-to-expected ratios were in southern sub-Saharan Africa (13.7 for incidence and 14.9 for mortality), and the lowest ratios were in high-income North America (0.4 for incidence) and Oceania (0.3 for mortality). For multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, eastern Europe had the highest observed-to-expected ratios (67.3 for incidence and 73.0 for mortality), and high-income North America had the lowest ratios (0.4 for incidence and 0.5 for mortality). Interpretation If current trends in tuberculosis incidence continue, few countries are likely to meet the SDG target to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. Progress needs to be accelerated by improving the quality of and access to tuberculosis diagnosis and care, by developing new tools, scaling up interventions to prevent risk factors for tuberculosis, and integrating control programmes for tuberculosis and HIV. Copyright 2018 (c) The Author(s).
Dental enamel as biomarker for environmental contaminants in relevant industrialized estuary areas in Sao Paulo, Brazil
(2017) OLIVEIRA, Vera Lucia Ferreira de; GERLACH, Raquel Fernanda; MARTINS, Lourdes Conceicao; GUERRA, Carolina de Souza; FRAZAO, Paulo; BRAGA, Alfesio Luis Ferreira; PEREIRA, Luiz Alberto Amador
Heavy metal contamination is a long-standing and very well-known public health problem, and its exposure can cause damage to several organs of human body, especially on the central nervous system of young children and teenagers. The aim of this article is to evaluate lead, cadmium, and manganese contamination in 125 children from 6 to 13 years old living in contaminated areas during the period from 2006 to 2009 (Sao Vicente, Cubatao Downtown, Bertioga and Cubatao Piloes/Agua Fria). This estuary area is the most important example of environmental degradation by chemicals from industrial sources. This is a cross-sectional study through clinical examinations and dental enamel tests. All mothers from these children lived in the area since before the pregnancy. Lead, cadmium, and manganese levels (mu g/g) were measured on dental enamel samples through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, searching for the occurrence of heavy metals. The mean lead concentrations were 139.48 mu g/g in Cubatao Piloes/Agua Fria, 170.45 mu g/g in Cubatao Downtown, 213.52 mu g/g in Sao Vicente, and 151.89 mu g/g in Bertioga. The mean cadmium concentrations were 10.83 mu g/g in Cubatao Piloes/Agua Fria, 12.58 mu g/g in Cubatao Downtown, 10.92 mu g/g in Sao Vicente, and 14.57 mu g/g in Bertioga. The mean manganese concentrations were 23.49 mu g/g in Cubatao Piloes/Agua Fria, 30.90 mu g/g in Cubatao Downtown, 41.46 mu g/g in Sao Vicente, and 42.00 mu g/g in Bertioga. Dental surface enamel may be used as an efficient biomarker of past environmental exposure to lead, manganese, and cadmium which are associated to well-known sources of heavy metal contamination. The results suggest that the evaluated children were exposed to sources of lead, cadmium, and manganese since before their conceptions. Although Bertioga initially was chosen as a control area of this study, it was also was verified to have heavy metal contamination on examined children.
A Streamlined Approach by a Combination of Bioindication and Geostatistical Methods for Assessing Air Contaminants and Their Effects on Human Health in Industrialized Areas: A Case Study in Southern Brazil
(2017) FERREIRA, Angelica B.; RIBEIRO, Andreza P.; FERREIRA, Mauricio L.; KNIESS, Claudia T.; QUARESMA, Cristiano C.; LAFORTEZZA, Raffaele; SANTOS, Jose O.; SAIKI, Mitiko; SALDIVA, Paulo H.
Industrialization in developing countries associated with urban growth results in a number of economic benefits, especially in small or medium-sized cities, but leads to a number of environmental and public health consequences. This problem is further aggravated when adequate infrastructure is lacking to monitor the environmental impacts left by industries and refineries. In this study, a new protocol was designed combining biomonitoring and geostatistics to evaluate the possible effects of shale industry emissions on human health and wellbeing. Futhermore, the traditional and expensive air quality method based on PM2 : 5 measuring was also used to validate the low-cost geostatistical approach. Chemical analysis was performed using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (EDXRF) to measure inorganic elements in tree bark and shale retorted samples in Sao Mateus do Sul city, Southern Brazil. Fe, S, and Si were considered potential pollutants in the study area. Distribution maps of element concentrations were generated from the dataset and used to estimate the spatial behavior of Fe, S, and Si and the range from their hot spot(s), highlighting the regions sorrounding the shale refinery. This evidence was also demonstrated in the measurements of PM2 : 5 concentrations, which are in agreement with the information obtained from the biomonitoring and geostatistical model. Factor and descriptive analyses performed on the concentrations of tree bark contaminants suggest that Fe, S, and Si might be used as indicators of industrial emissions. The number of cases of respiratory diseases obtained from local basic health unit were used to assess a possible correlation between shale refinery emissions and cases of repiratory disease. These data are public and may be accessed on the website of the the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Significant associations were found between the health data and refinery activities. The combination of the spatial characterization of air pollution and clinical health data revealed that adverse effects were significant for individuals over 38 years of age. These results also suggest that a protocol designed to monitor urban air quality may be an effective and low-cost strategy in environmentally contaminated cities, especially in low-and middle-income countries.
Stains of ejaculated pre and post-vasectomy: Purity and sufficient quantity of recovered DNA after 10 years of storage
(2015) MAUTONI, Carolina; ASTOLPHI, Rafael Dias; MELLO, Rafael Barrios; SOARES-VIEIRA, Jose Arnaldo; SILVA, Marcelo Souza; SOUSA, Maria Luiza Almeida Prado Oliveira; BITTENCOURT, Eloisa Auler; IWAMURA, Edna Sadayo Miazato
Vasectomy is a widely used method of contraception. The absence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate of azoospermic individuals increases the difficulty of extracting DNA for analysis, especially if the biological samples are in the form of spots and stored for years. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of obtaining autosomal and Y-STR profiles from stains containing the ejaculate of individuals pre and post-vasectomy, stored in cotton fabric for a period of 10 years. Samples from 28 (twenty eight) individuals: semen pre-vasectomy and seminal fluid (post-vasectomy) stains, stored from 2004 to 2014 at room temperature were used. Three cutouts of 1.5 cm in diameter (punch) were taken from central region of each spot. It was used the QIAamp DNA Mini kit (Qiagen) to extract DNA with an adapted protocol followed by quantification by Nanodrop equipment. Genetic profiles were obtained using ESI17Power-Plex(R) (Promega). Capillary electrophoresis was performed on the ABI PRISM 3500XL DNA Analyzer. The DNA extraction was successful in all punch analyzed, and its concentration ranged from 1.1 ng/uL to 23.3 ng/uL in the pre-vasectomy and from 0.8 ng/uL to 7 ng/uL in postvasectomy punch. The samples had suitable purity, reflecting the presence of few contaminants. Currently, the techniques of DNA amplification are extremely sensitive and capable of assessing human DNA in small quantities generating partial or full profiles, trespassing situations such as long storage periods in cotton fabric. These data can be used as a benchmark for forensic analysis in cases of semen analysis.
Intra-urban biomonitoring: Source apportionment using tree barks to identify air pollution sources
(2016) MOREIRA, Tiana Carla Lopes; OLIVEIRA, Regiani Carvalho de; AMATO, Luis Fernando Lourenco; KANG, Choong-Min; SALDIVA, Paulo Hilario Nascimento; SAIKI, Mitiko
It is of great interest to evaluate if there is a relationship between possible sources and trace elements using biomonitoring techniques. In this study, tree bark samples of 171 trees were collected using a biomonitoring technique in the inner city of Sao Paulo. The trace elements (Al, Ba, Ca, Cl, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Rb, S, Sr and Zn) were determined by the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to identify the plausible sources associated with tree bark measurements. The greatest source was vehicle-induced non-tailpipe emissions derived mainly from brakes and tires wear-out and road dust resuspension (characterized with Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn), which was explained by 27.1% of the variance, followed by cement (14.8%), sea salt (11.6%) and biomass burning (10%), and fossil fuel combustion (9.8%). We also verified that the elements related to vehicular emission showed different concentrations at different sites of the same street, which might be helpful for a new street classification according to the emission source. The spatial distribution maps of element concentrations were obtained to evaluate the different levels of pollution in streets and avenues. Results indicated that biomonitoring techniques using tree bark can be applied to evaluate dispersion of air pollution and provide reliable data for the further epidemiological studies.
Prevalence of liver diseases as referred by people living in the Santos and So Vicente Estuary
(2015) CARVALHO, Daniele Fernandes Pena; GUIMARAES, M. T.; RIBEIRO, T. S.; CAMPINA, N. N.; LOBARINHAS, M. R.; LOPES, A. L. J.; CUNHA, M. G.; SOUZA, I. B.; OLIVEIRA, V. L. F.; BRAGA, L. Braga E.; MARTINS, L. C.; GOMES, A.; PEREIRA, L. A. A.; BRAGA, A. L. F.
The Santos and So Vicente Estuary has suffered extensively over the years from irregular industrial deposits. The present study aimed to evaluate liver disease prevalence and potential associated risk factors in four of the Estuary's areas (Piles and Agua-Fria, Cubato Center, Continental So Vicente, and Guaruja) and a reference area (Bertioga). This study consisted of a cross-sectional study design, in which a questionnaire was used to collect information in 820 households at each of the study areas. The proportion of total liver diseases, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and cancer (liver, biliary tract, and pancreas) per area were estimated. Pearson's chi-square test and two proportion differences test were applied in order to evaluate associations between disease occurrence and areas and to test differences between two proportions, respectively. Single and multiple logistic regression models were applied to assess associations between disease prevalence and the different study areas. Liver disease prevalence was 1.5 % among all inhabitants and 1.4 % among those without any type of exposure. Among those who reported the presence of liver disease, a higher percentage of the participants that reported hepatitis (27.7 %) or other liver disease (48.7 %) did not report occupational or alcohol exposures. Hepatitis (77.8 %) was the most reported disease, and a statistical association between living in Piles and Agua-Fria and the occurrence of hepatitis was observed (Pearson's chi(2): z = 18.1; p = 0.001). The consumption of locally-produced groceries (2.88; CI: 1.24-6.70) and water (5.88; CI: 2.24-15.45) were shown to be risk factors for the occurrence of liver disease. Thus, environmental exposure is still a public health problem present in the estuary region.