Geoscience Reference
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communicated to the inhabitants of an area along with the results of the modeling
process. However, the use of these maps does present one main disadvantage, and
that is the fact that people who live in disadvantaged ecological areas tend to be
stigmatized.
The idea of monitoring air quality is ambiguous as it plays a key role in both the
scientific and political worlds. For example, the organization known as the AASQA
possesses both a scientific and political side. As far as science is concerned, the
AASQA can produce lots of documentation, such as maps. However, as soon as the
maps are produced, it is possible to see the political side of this organization in
action as it must ensure that all of the documents have been received by the people
for whom they were created. The aim of the documents is to show the knowledge
and the competences that the monitoring associations possess, rather than simply
identifying and locating problem areas.
The problem with the current system is that the documentation is focused too
much on the knowledge that specialists in the field have, whilst there is a great need
to focus more on the action of preventing air pollution. The domain of monitoring
air quality is not limited to technical know-how, because as far as the environment is
concerned, the word knowledge means action. In this domain it is necessary to be
pro-active rather than re-active.
How can these factors, which are very important as far as expertise in the field is
concerned, be used more actively in the fight against pollution? This question is
very ambiguous and has raised several issues as illustrated by the work carried out
by AIRPARIF 21 on the heat exchanger located at Bagnolet, Paris, France 22 . This
study has shown that for certain pollutants, pollution levels are notoriously higher
the closer one gets to the exchanger or the closer one gets to the suburb's periphery
in comparison to the levels of background pollution that are present. The size of the
area that was studied corresponds to a population of approximately 70,000 people.
The data collected in relation to how emissions affect health, provide no explicit
information on how such emissions affect health. To what extent does such a heat
exchanger affect health? In the event of an extreme risk, the knowledge and know-
how that specialists possess is completely counterproductive (except if there are any
attempts at remediation). It is said to be counterproductive because in the event of
an extremely high risk, there is the fear of stigmatizing a particular region. In other
words, the region will be seen as being a disadvantaged region as far as the
following factors are concerned: social, economic, health, or environmental factors.
Such negative publicity can lead to the creation of major inequalities, but it should
be borne in mind that that pollution levels of the surrounding air is not the lone
factor responsible of such a situation. The exact amount of exposure to pollution
21 http://www.airparif.asso.fr/page.php?rubrique=projets&article=echangeur.
22 Bagnolet is a suburb found in the eastern side of Paris. Many different examples could be
used here. The issues arising from the existence of such a heat exchanger are the same issues
that arise in the surrounding areas of factories.
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