Besides being a matter of public health, EC in concentrations beyond the limit permitted by different legislations could be a barrier to Brazilian exportation (Beattie and Polyblank, 1995, Guerain & Leblond, 1992 and Jones, 1998). Given these concerns, this work aims to: (a) quantify the formation of ethyl carbamate in the fermentation process of sugar-cane juice, and in different distilled fractions and in the vinasse during cachaça production; (b) measure copper concentrations in sugar-cane juice and the distilled fractions and verify its correlation with EC production.