BARROS, Aldre Jorge Morais.; CEBALLOS, Beatriz Susana Ovruski de.; KONIG, Annemarie.; GHEYI, Hans Raj.
Abstract:
The sanitary and physico-chemical quality of water used in the irrigation of vegetable crops was
evaluated in 5 farms in 2 municipalities of the State of Paraíba, Brazil. The irrigation water presented high
fecal load (FC: 104 CFU 100 mL-1) contaminating the vegetables. The contamination occurred due to the
fact that domestic sewage is discharged into the water streams, resulting in indirect reuse of wastewater
in the agriculture. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) irrigated with such waters showed high levels of fecal
contamination (FC: 1,0 x 103 and 1.6 x 106 MPN g-1 and E. coli: 2.5 x 102 and 2.5 x 104 MPN g-1), exposing
the consumers of these vegetables to health hazards, however the lettuce in the public markets presented
fecal coliformes between 7,5 x 103 and 3,8 x 104 MPN g-1 and there were no significant differences with
that of vegetable gardens. The high levels of fecal coliformes in the organic manure (mean value
between 1.3 x 105 and 2.6 x 106 MPN g-1) used in cultivation also contributed towards contamination of
lettuce. Although the waters contained considerable concentrations of salts they did not present high
risks of salinization or sodification of the soil.
