Risk assessment to health and human safety in an urban basin in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to carry out a risk assessment of human health and safety associated with the dangers encountered in an urban basin located in Campina Grande, the State of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil, called the Prado Basin, through the method of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). As a subsidy to the study, laboratory analyses of drainage water were performed at eight points distributed along the Prado Canal, a canal of the study area, to verify its quality and subsequent influence on the population's health. It was verified that the risk of effluent discharge pollution stood out from the others, accounting for almost 50% of the total risk of the system. In the risk ranges, this was classified in points six and seven as critical and in points two, three, and four as high risk, which implies the urgency of adopting measures that minimize or resolve this risk at these points. In general, it was found that points six and seven totaled the highest sum of individual risks, suggesting the adoption of short-term preventive and corrective measures in the aforementioned points.