In this study, avocado seed was successfully used as raw material for producing activated carbons by conventional pyrolysis. In order to determine the best condition to produce the activated carbons, a 2 full-factorial design of experiment (DOE) with three central points was employed by varying the temperature and time of pyrolysis. The two evaluated factors (temperature and time of pyrolysis) strongly influenced the S, pore volumes, hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity ratio (HI) and functional groups values; both factors had a negative effect over S, pore volumes and functional groups which means that increasing the values of factors leads to decrease of these responses; on the other hand, with regards to HI, both factors caused a positive effect which means that increasing their values, the HI has an enhancement over its values. The produced activated carbon exhibited high specific surface areas in the range of 1122-1584 m g. Surface characterisation revealed that avocado seed activated carbons (ASACs) have hydrophilic surfaces and have predominantly acidic groups on their surfaces. The prepared ASACs were employed in the adsorption of 25 emerging organic compounds such as 10 pharmaceuticals and 15 phenolic compounds which presented high uptake values for all emerging pollutants. It was observed that the activated carbon prepared at higher temperature of pyrolysis (700 °C), which generated less total functional groups and presented higher HI, was the activated carbon with higher sorption capacity for uptaking emerging organic contaminants. Based on results of this work, it is possible to conclude that avocado seed can be employed as a raw material to produce high surface area and very efficient activated carbons in relation to treatment of polluted waters with emerging organic pollutants.

This study received fi nancial support from PPSUS MS/CNPq/FAPEAL, PAHO/WHO. ABSTRACTThe family and neighbors of a patient infected with W. bancrofti microfi lariae were assessed aiming to evaluate the occurrence of cases of lymphatic fi lariasis in a non-endemic area in the city of Maceió, in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. The patient had previously lived in an endemic focus; however, he has been living in an area where the parasite has never been detected for the past ten years. Female ingurgitated Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes captured in the houses of the microfi laremic individual and of his neighbors in the non-endemic region were also examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The thick blood smear examination, blood membrane fi ltration, and rapid immunochromatography (antigen search) revealed no infected individuals in the family of the microfi laremic individual. All 334 neighbors undergoing the thick blood smear examination were negative for W. bancrofti microfi lariae. In 478 ingurgitated C. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes examined by PCR, no W. bancrofti DNA was detected. The microfi laremic individual had a microfi laremia considered very low according to WHO standards (4 microfi lariae/mL of blood). As the vectorial infection depends on microfi laremia, the patient's low parasite load did not determine the contamination of other individuals in the area. Our data have shown that the long-term residence of the microfi laremic individual in the non-endemic region was not suffi cient to start a new transmission focus of lymphatic fi lariasis in Maceió.