Guarapari is a coastal town of
EspÃrito Santo
EspÃrito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, a popular tourist destination. Its beach is famous for the high natural radioactivity level of its sand.
Location
Guarapari is a part of Greater Vitoria, 47 km south of the state capital
Vitória. Its population is 126,701 (2020) and its area is 592 km².
It is a well-known tourist destination, known for its curving white sand beaches backed by commercial development, which extend southward to Nova Guarapari and
MeaÃpe. With its heavily built-up coastline like
Vila Velha
Vila Velha (; Portuguese for "Old Village") is a coastal city in EspÃrito Santo, Brazil. It lies across from Vitória, the state capital. Its population was 501,325 (2020) and its area is 210.23 km².
Location
Vila Velha forms part of t ...
and Vitória, it caters heavily to seasonal tourists, and consequently has quite a dramatic seasonal population fluctuation.
The municipality contains the
Concha d'Ostra Sustainable Development Reserve, established in 2003 to protect the mangroves of the Bay of Guarapari. It also contains the
Paulo César Vinha State Park, which protects an area of dunes, lagoons and marshes along the Atlantic shore. Formerly called the Setiba nature reserve, it is a pristine example of a coastal ecosystem and important for local turtle and bird populations.
History
The municipality has had European presence since 1585 when
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries built a small chapel and dug a well.
Transportation
The city is served by
Guarapari Airport.
Radioactivity
Along a roughly 500-mile portion of Brazil's Atlantic coast that runs from north of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
up to the region south of
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-larges ...
, the sands of old beaches are naturally radioactive. Sea waves pound coastal mountains rich in
monazite
Monazite is a primarily reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements. Due to variability in composition, monazite is considered a group of minerals. The most common species of the group is monazite-(Ce), that is, the ceriu ...
, a phosphate of rare earth metals containing uranium and thorium.
The
background radiation
Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources.
Background radiation originates from a variety of source ...
level on some spots on the Guarapari beach read 175
mSv
mSv or MSV may refer to:
* Maize streak virus, a plant disease
* Medium-speed vehicle, US category
* Medium Systems Vehicle, a class of fictional artificially intelligent starship in The Culture universe of late Scottish author Iain Banks
* Millis ...
per year (20μSv/h); Some other spots can reach dosages of up to 55 μSv/h. To place that in context, the average exposure level across the United States is ~0.34 μSv/hour while a
chest x-ray
A chest radiograph, called a chest X-ray (CXR), or chest film, is a projection radiograph of the chest used to diagnose conditions affecting the chest, its contents, and nearby structures. Chest radiographs are the most common film taken in me ...
is a one time exposure of 0.1 mSv, and an abdominal and pelvic CT scan with and without contrast is 20-30 mSv.
In the Guarapari city, radiation levels are far lower: a study among 320 inhabitants showed an average received dose of 0.6 µSv/h, corresponding to 5.2 mSv per year.
References
External links
*
Guiacapixaba.net: Guarapari
€”
Guarapari.tiosam.org: Guarapari — history and travel tips
€”
{{Authority control
Municipalities in EspÃrito Santo
Populated coastal places in EspÃrito Santo