GEO Brasil - UNEP

the state of environment in Brazil
26
Impacts of Industrial Activities
According to Krebs & Nosse (1998) and Alexander & Krebs
(1995), the production processes of inorganic chemical
industries involve the release of chemical elements into the
air and over the ground These chemical products –
compounds, gasses, etc - contain variable quantities of
particles in suspension, in the form of acids, alkalis, toxic
salts, that can cause environmental problems because of
the presence of fluorides, phosphates, sulphates, organic
solvents, greases, oils, metals and hot water or vapour (for
example, Metal Mecânica from Joinville-SC, Indústrias
Têxteis from Blumenau-SC, Indústrias de Calçados from
Vale dos Sinos - RS, Indústrias Químicas from Cubatão-
SP)
Steel and metallurgy industries produce all sorts of steel
and metal-alloy parts These metals and steel-alloys have
special properties due to the addition of one or more
elements, such as manganese, nickel, chromium,
molybdenum, vanadium, silicon, tungsten, cobalt, etc
(Alexander & Krebs 1995)
Foundries are great polluters In addition to SO 2
, NO 2
, CO 3
and others, they release a significant volume of particles
into the atmosphere (consisting of metallic oxides), such
as CO, SO 2
, SO 3
, and NO X
(Alexander & Krebs 1995)
The petrochemical industry has left environmental passives
in places such as Vila da Carioca and Parque da Mooca, in
the city of São Paulo, which are now the subject of a public
hearing, currently conducted by the Legislative Assembly
of the State of São Paulo In the district of Recanto dos
Passaros in Paulinia-SP, the soil and subsoil are also polluted,
as is underground water, by organochlorine compounds:
eldrin, aldrin and dieldrin This matter is being investigated
by the District Attorney‘s Office
The main sources of underground water and subsoil
pollution, as well as associated control parameters, are listed
in Chart 1
77