Air pollution and living conditions: a geographical analysis of health risk in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Air pollution is a widely recognized hazard to human health. In industrial cities the emission of toxic gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere compounds the pollution problem caused by circulation of vehicles, often creating hazardous public health situations. The goal of this study was to analyze patterns in pollution and living conditions in Volta Redonda and identify more vulnerable areas and population groups. Volta Redonda is a city near Rio de Janeiro with 250,000 inhabitants and Brazil's main steel industrial complex. The presence of several factories in the city, especially the huge CSN steel plant, contributes to increased air pollution levels, to the point that this city is one of the most heavily polluted in the country. The methodology applied to identify areas and groups of people most vulnerable to this sort of pollution utilized a GIS software. The study showed that the northwestern area of Volta Redonda had the worst environmental and living conditions.