The vulnerability of indigenous populations: water quality consumed by the Maxakali community, Minas Gerais, Brazil. (Miranda de Assis et al., 2020)
Abstract.
Distributed in four villages with approximately 1800 individuals, the Maxakali people is the second largest indigenous population in the state of Minas Gerais/Brazil. The evaluation of the quality of water used for consumption and leisure in this population is usually performed by palatability and visual criteria. Thus, a descriptive study was carried out including samples of surface and groundwater consumed in four villages, considering water collection in three seasonal periods in 2015. PH (hydrogen potential), turbidity, dissolved oxygen concentration, conductivity, nitrate, total and thermotolerant coliforms were measured. The villages with the largest number of samples with values higher than tolerable were Verde Village (100%), followed by Água Boa Village (85.7%) and Pradinho (71.4%). The dissolved oxygen, total and fecal coliforms were changed in all the villages, with percentages above 50% of the samples. The turbidity and conductivity changes were detected in three of the four villages. Thus, the water consumed by this community, in natura, according to local tradition, presents a high risk for the occurrence of waterborne diseases in this population group.