Abstract

MOZOBANCYK, Schelica¹  and  PEREZ SOBRERO, Javier A.. PERCEPTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND HEALTH RISKS IN “VILLA INFLAMABLE” NEIGHBORHOOD. Anu. investig. [online]. 2016, vol.23, n.1, pp.207-216. ISSN 1851-1686.

“Villa Inflamable” is one of the most polluted places in the country because of the presence of oil and chemical industries. Local and interjurisdictional authorities made public their especially concerned about lead contamination and its effects on health and child development. The objective of this research was to explore the community perception of environmental pollution, its effects on health and the knowledge of prevention practices, through a qualitative approach. We made 16 semi-structured interviews in four strategic places in the neighborhood. We found that the environment pollution is not questioned. Lead pollution is the least perceived by the community, who hardly mentions it, and its perception of children’s health problems that are consequence of lead are even less perceived. Mainly, community identifies pollution from its sensorial experience (water flavor and turbidity, smoke and air scent) and because of the discomfort that causes in the body. The most mentioned diseases related to environment pollution are respiratory diseases (bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma), skin diseases (allergies, rashes, boils), diarrhea, cancer and birth malformations. However, much of the interviewed doubt or even deny that these deseases may be caused by environmental pollution. Uncertainty is the main feature present in their speech. The lack of perception of the harmful effects on health of the polluting elements may lead to not acting preventively, or taking not effective or counterproductive actions. We discuss the implications of the findings for public health and environmental policies and reflect on the findings considering the concepts of “Environmental justice”.

Keywords : Risk perception; Vulnerable Communities; Environmental Psychology.

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