Repercussão da poluição industrial na estrutura da economia brasileira

Abstract

This article explores industrial pollution as one of the interfaces of the externality theory applied to the analysis of the structural interdependence between the economy and the environment. Several authors and research institutions have evaluated the direct and indirect effects of industrial pollution on well-being levels, particularly on public health, agricultural productivity, climate change, and, in general, on the environment. However, these attempts at study always encounter a lack of information on the intensity of pollutants emitted. In this study, the quantities of different water and air pollutants were estimated based on World Bank data, specifically developed for this type of study. The analytical model proposed by Leontief in 1970 was applied, an expanded version of the input-output matrix applied to environmental analysis, which consists of expansion in terms of sectoral pollution generation rows and pollution control activity columns. The results indicated that total suspended solids, with 942,872 tons, SO2, with 803,280 tons, NO2, with 477,572 tons, CO, with 414,323 tons, and total particulate matter, with 368,791 tons, constituted the five dominant pollutants in the structure of industrial pollution in Brazil, all belonging to the class of air pollutants. The most emission-intensive sectors were steel and metallurgy, chemicals and petrochemicals, and other industries, with the first two being the most dynamic and having the greatest field of influence on the structure of the Brazilian economy.