Cumulative Environmental Vulnerability Assessment in the Area of Influence of the Pecém Port Industrial Complex (Ceará, Brazil): A Spatial Analysis

Norberto Santos-Junior, Jose Ueleres Braga and Elvira Maria Godinho de Seixas Maciel
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Norberto Santos-Junior: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saude Publica e Meio Ambiente, Escola Nacional de Saude Pública—FIOCRUZ 1, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
Jose Ueleres Braga: Departamento de Epidemiologia e Metodos Quantitativos em Saude, Escola Nacional de Saude Pública—FIOCRUZ 2, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
Elvira Maria Godinho de Seixas Maciel: Departamento de Epidemiologia e Metodos Quantitativos em Saude, Escola Nacional de Saude Pública—FIOCRUZ 2, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: The municipalities of Caucaia and São Gonçalo do Amarante are located in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza (CE) and are home to the Pecém Port Industrial Complex (PPIC). We know that economic development is not necessarily related to improvements in the quality of life of the population. Furthermore, the bonuses and burdens of this particular installation can occur unevenly. This study aimed to assess the cumulative environmental vulnerability of these municipalities. We used the cumulative environmental vulnerability assessment methodology to assess the population’s degree of vulnerability, considering census sectors as a spatial unit. This approach combines three indices: environmental risk index, social vulnerability index, and health index. Finally, we calculated the arithmetic mean of each indicator in each census sector. We built choropleth maps to assess the spatial distribution of environmental vulnerability. We found that many maps demonstrated high cumulative environmental vulnerability census sectors around the PPIC, while the Caucaia, located downtown, exhibited a substantial majority of the low cumulative environmental vulnerability census sectors. The district of Guararu, in Caucaia, was notable for having proportionally more census sectors with high health index values. Environmental vulnerability was heterogeneously distributed, and the most impoverished areas are also the most vulnerable.

Keywords: environmental health; environmental pollutants; air pollution; spatial analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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