Microplastics are omnipresent in the atmosphere, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, food and beverages. They may cause risks to biodiversity and the human population. The present study aims to assess the concentrations of microplastics in raw and drinking water of the Sinos River in Southern Brazil. The water was collected at eight locations along the Sinos River and in eight residences supplied with treated river water. The samples were processed by dying plastic particles with Nile Red and counting by fluorescence microscopy. River water showed an average of 330.2 particles L−1 and treated water 105.8 particles L−1. Fibers were the most abundant particles shapes in the samples. Particle abundance in the raw water did not follow the urbanization gradient in the Sinos River basin. The exact pathways of microplastic particles remain unidentified, but the predominance of fibers suggests that untreated sewage from washing machines may be a principal source of contamination, particularly in the headwaters. The microplastic in the drinking water is an additional factor to be considered in conservation efforts aiming at improving water quality in the Sinos River basin.

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large‐scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications.

Para avaliar a integridade ambiental de um ambiente deve-se considerar a composição de espécies, pois estas podem mostrar o histórico de perturbações em escala temporal. O grupo dos peixes pode mostrar a qualidade e integridade dos ecossistemas aquáticos, tais como lagoas marginais que são estressados anualmente por pulsos de inundações e podem ser afetados de acordo com o uso do solo em seu entorno. Desta forma, conhecer espécies que podem mostrar o histórico ambiental é de grande valor para entender estes ecossistemas. O objetivo deste trabalho é encontrar espécies que sejam relacionadas a determinados tipos de ocupação do solo. Dados de composição e uso do solo foram avaliados através de análises multivariadas para compreender estas relações. Concluindo que herbívoros são relacionados a determinadas classes como lavouras, campos e matas.

This study investigated the occurrence of plastic particles in the digestive tracts of fish from headwater streams in a human-thinly populated region of the subtropical Sinos River basin in southern Brazil. In total, 258 individuals from 17 species were collected using electric fishing. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of the specimens contained plastic particles. All of them were fibers, with a maximum count of 43 per individual. Plastic fibers were the fourth most abundant food category. Results showed that the uptake of these plastic particles was proportional to the number of ingested food items. Fiber counts in the guts correlated with the uptake of Trichoptera, which are invertebrates using plastic particles to construct their protective cases. No significant difference in plastic uptake was detected between benthic and water column fish. No evidence of bioaccumulation of plastic particles was found in the intestines. The distance from urban areas was not related to the number of ingested plastic particles, concluding that plastics are ubiquitous and available to biota, even in remote locations. The most probable source of these particles is residences close to the streams which discharge the sewage of washing machines without any treatment.

The analysis of pollution data was the support for the proposed remodelation of the network and allowed an estimation of the Air Quality evolution since 1968.The most important pollution sources in Oporto area are the motor traffic, one oil refinery and one petrochemical complex.Strong acidity levels are generally small, but black smoke concentrations are similar to that observed in several European cities.The interpretation of the temporal evolution of network yearly averages, is sometimes not reliable, in consequence of not being possible to get the mean validation of every sites for all years.The network should be increased installing stations in the oldest commercial areas where sulfur dioxide, black smoke, nitrogen oxides, hidrocarbons, carbon monoxide, lead and ozone should be measured. Sulfur dioxide and black smoke should be measured too, in six more areas of the metropolitan Oporto.

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This area has a rate of patients with obstructive chronic lung disease that is the highest in Portugal and the second in Europe. Levels of pollution observed in 1985/86 and 1986/87 allowed evaluating the effects of concentrations lower than those that usually cause acute episodes. It was observed that even low levels of strong acidity can be related with lung diseases, when observed simultaneously with appreciable levels of black smoke; climatic factors have a synergetic effect.