São Paulo - The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) and the Environmental Protection Technology Company (Cetesb), which is part of the government of the state of São Paulo, plan to study changes in the composition of the gasoline distributed in the country, in order to make it less polluting and harmful to human health. The agreement, signed by the President of the Cetesb, Rubens Lara, and the Director-General of the ANP, Sebastião do Rego Barros, is initially slated to last five years.

According to Lara, the agreement between the two institutions "represents a technical and operational cooperation arrangement for the planning, environmental management, and environmental control and licensing of activities connected with the storage, distribution, and selective collection of products derived from petroleum."

Studies will be conducted to determine the contribution of fuels to pollutant emissions. One of the main objectives is to reduce the concentration of olefins (alkenes) in gasoline. Olefins are hydrocarbons that play a big role in ozone formation at low altitudes, which is extremely damaging to health. According to the Cetesb, 90% of pollution in the São Paulo metropolitan area is produced by automobiles.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Leonardo Stavale
Translator: David Silberstein
08/26/2004