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In order to guarantee the quality and safety of water intended for human consumption in Brazil, the GM/MS Regulation No 888, of 4 May 2021, of the Ministry of Health, establishes parameters, through laboratory analyses, to monitor substances that pose a risk to human health. As far as radiological standards are concerned, the activity concentration limits must not exceed 0.5 Bq/L for gross alpha and 1.0 Bq/L for gross beta. In the case of alpha/beta values exceeding the maximum permitted value, other natural and/or artificial radionuclides present in the water must be quantified. The radionuclides most likely to be found in water intended for human consumption are radium and uranium, which are the main fractions of the doses received by man from internal emissions derived from radium, 226Ra and its decay products. In order to comply with environmental regulations and to be a conformity assessment organism, competent to carry out ionizing radiation tests, necessary for the monitoring of drinking water in Brazil; the Centro de Biologia Experimental Oceanus laboratory, located in Rio de Janeiro, carried out gross alpha and gross beta analyses, using the gas flow proportional counter technique; a the analyses of 226Ra, 228Ra and 210Pb, using the radiochemical separation technique, followed by alpha/beta counting; in water for human consumption. It was necessary to obtain results on the equipment's operating plateau, background, efficiency and factors related to the attenuation effect of alpha counts. The laboratory has demonstrated the reliability of its results by participating in the National Intercomparison Programme - PNI, and by requesting for accreditation from the Brazilian Network of Testing Laboratories - RBLE, according to the ABNT ISO/IEC 17025 standard; in the category of ionising radiation tests.

PURPOSE: Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Platinum agents and fluoropyrimidines are the main compounds used in the first-line setting for advanced GC. Given the activity of fluorouracil (FU) bolus, the PFL protocol, a chemotherapy regimen combining cisplatin, FU bolus, and leucovorin, was incorporated at the Brazilian National Cancer Institute, because this schedule does not require hospitalization or infusion pumps. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of PFL in the first-line setting for patients with advanced GC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study evaluating patients with advanced GC treated in the first-line setting with cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 1 and FU bolus 400 mg/m2 plus leucovorin 20 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 every 4 weeks, from January 2008 to December 2014. RESULTS: A total of 109 patients were enrolled. The median number of cycles received per patient was four (one to 11). Complete responses were achieved in 6.4% and partial responses in 14.7%. Median progression-free survival was 6.3 months (95% CI, 5.08 to 7.58 months) and median overall survival was 8.3 months (95% CI, 6.79 to 9.87 months). Thirty-four (31.2%) patients were alive in 1 year. Grade 3 and 4 adverse events were experienced by 26.6% and 3.7% of patients, respectively, with dose reduction necessary in 9.1%. CONCLUSION: PFL is active in advanced GC and could be an alternative for FU continuous infusion protocols in institutions with limited resources and/or low budget, which is the reality in many nations all over the world.