The pollution of Rio

Due to the high concentration of industries in the metropolitan area, Rio de Janeiro has faced serious problems with environmental pollution, as have most large Brazilian cities.

The Guanabara Bay, victimized by the loss of secular areas of mangrove, agonized with waste from household and industrial sewage, in addition to oil spills and the growing presence of heavy metals. Despite its waters being renewed by the sea, the bay is the receiving end of all changes generated in the margins and basins of many rivers and streams that have drainage. More than fourteen thousand industrial establishments and fourteen sea terminals for loading and unloading of oil products are among the main causes of pollution.

The levels of particulate matter in the air are also two times above the amount recommended by the World Health Organization, in part because of the large fleet of vehicles in circulation. In a survey released by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Rio de Janeiro was identified as the fifth most polluted capital of Brazil, behind only Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba.

The waters of the Bay of Sepetiba are slowly following the path traced by the Guanabara Bay, but with different degradation characteristics. Sewage from homes, produced by a population of around 1.29 million people, directly degrades the quality of health, with water being released without treatment into streams and rivers.

With regard to industrial pollution, toxic waste with high concentrations of heavy metals,  (particularly zinc and cadmium), has been dumped over the years by factories in the industrial districts of Santa Cruz, Itaguai and Nova Iguacu.  This has been done under the guidance of state policies aimed, in particular, at the polarization of industrial expansion in less congested areas.

The Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, on many postcards of Rio de Janeiro, and the lagoon of Marapendi leniencia are suffering with the authorities about the advancement of condominiums at the site. The dumping of sewage by illegal connections and the resulting algal blooms decrease the oxygenation of the water, causing the death of fish. It is estimated that from the beginning of last century until the present day, the mirrored water of the lake has lost 40% of its original coverage.

Some beaches of Rio’s edge are unfit for bathing during most of the year. Commonly, after time, “black language”, the debris caused by the rains coming from the hills, forms in the sands of the beaches.