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<p>Pre-modern societies were subjected to risks attributed to fate, and human-made hazards that were considered manageable. Late-modern society is increasingly exposed to emerging environmental health risks that are products of the modernization process itself (e.g. genetically modified organisms). These risks result from broad changes in the environment and/or human activity. Some of these provoke high public perceptions of risk, and often institutions and communities must respond to these in the absence of scientific knowledge.</p> <p>This dissertation explores the determinants of the perception of food allergies – a recent addition to the environmental risk landscape. A recently assembled national database on food allergies was analyzed using multivariate logistic regression (n=3,462). In parallel, a media analysis of nine years of Canadian newspaper coverage of food allergy issues (n = 598 articles) explored the role of a primary source of risk communication.</p> <p>Results revealed a number of important determinants at the individual-level , as well as a number of experiential (e.g. exposure to food allergy-related information) and attitudinal covariates . The policy environment, was also implicated as an important modifying factor for risk perceptions. The media analysis revealed how food allergies are being constructed by different social actors through the news media, with substantial implications for public understanding. The dissertation concludes with a description of a conceptual framework for characterizing public response to emerging environmental health. This tool may prove crucial for increasing the understanding of the links between people, perceptions, and places as new environmental risks continue to emerge on the landscape.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Firewood is a dominant household fuel type used in many developing countries. Even in countries where there is improved access to electricity, most households still rely on firewood for their energy needs. Harvesting of some wood is illegal, however the high poverty rate, absence of alternative fuels and lack of law enforcement means even the protected wood species will continue to be used, with consequent pressure on the forests. Furthermore, the combustion of firewood for domestic use takes place in poorly ventilated homes emitting hazardous pollutants, which causes indoor air pollution and affect human health. The use of firewood as a household fuel can be superimposed nearly perfectly on that of socioeconomic development. Additionally, the use of household firewood is invariably associated with poverty in countries, in communities within a country and in households within a community. Indoor air pollution studies on human health should then consider socio-economic factors which seem to be one of the determinants of both firewood use and ill health, a determinant which is often neglected in most indoor air pollution studies. Domestic inhalation of firewood smoke is one of the mechanisms linking socio-economic (poverty) to disease. The current study sought to determine a baseline of wood usage and health risks caused by volatile organic compounds in Senwabarwana villages. This study integrated observations, ethnobotanical meta-analysis and experimental into one comprehensive integrated environmental health risk assessment framework to assess the risks associated with exposure to volatile organic compounds from firewood combustion. Basic information about firewood usage, socio-economic dynamics and perceived health problems related to volatile organic compounds was collected using a structured questionnaire. The Vac-U-Chamber was used to sample the air. The results show that firewood is extensively used in poorly ventilated kitchens for cooking and home heating in Senwabarwana villages. Ten priority firewood plant species are frequently used in the study area, namely Mohweleri (Combretum apiculatum), Moretshe (Dichrostachys cinera), Motswiri (Combretum imberbe), Mokgwa (Acacia burkei), Mushu (Acacia tortilis), Motshe (Cussonia paniculate), Mokata (Combretum hereroense), Mphata (Lonchocarpus capassa), Mokgalo (Ziziphus mucronate) and Mogwana (Grewia monticola), in their order of preference. The results also indicated thirteen common reasons or factors that influence the hoice of firewood plant species by households, the main four being: (i) the embers formed during combustion, (ii) heat value, (iii) low ash content and (iv) availability of the firewood plant species. Further analysis revealed several uses and ranking thereof, including reviewing the national status and legal profile of each identified plant species. The study found that most of the firewood species used in Senwabarwana Village were indigenous. Major drivers of firewood use are household income, educational status of breadwinners, family sizes, and place of residence, fuel affordability and accessibility, among others. Concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene per plant species were studied to assess the risk exposed to the Senwabarwana community. Literature indicates that these pollutants have several health effects associated with acute exposure such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Both hazard quotient and hazard index were found to be less than one indicating no risk exists with the use of plant species used for firewood in Senwabarwana even to sensitive individuals. The risk of developing health effects due to the presence of the studied volatile organic compounds can be assessed as negligible. Since firewood is a more convenient source of energy, it is recommended that the size of the windows be extended for ventilation. Agroforesty should also be implemented as a conservation method. The wood that emits less concentration of pollutants be used for firemaking. / Environmental Sciences

Vilken arbetsmiljö möter vi som konstnärer? Vad får våra kroppar hantera? I mitt konstnärliga utforskande har jag intresserat mig för de risker vi utsätter oss för i vår arbetsmiljö på Konstfack. Vardagen i verkstäderna för med sig många exempel på de utmaningar våra kroppar ställs inför.  Vi testar gärna nya tekniker, nya material, plaster och kemikalier med främmande egenskaper att förhålla sig till. Kroppen, materialet och arbetsmiljön har varit centralt närvarande i min process, men kanske framför allt frågan om varför vi så gärna bortser från de risker vi utsätter oss för. Hur hanterar vi vetskapen om hoten på ett psykologiskt plan?  Genom skulptur, hantverkstekniker och materialval har jag undersökt det luftburna hotet, ett ämne som lämnar utrymme för subjektivitet. Det är idén av ett hot, något abstrakt och osynligt, ibland förnimbart, ibland inte. Vad vi väljer att tro på kan i vissa fall ha större effekt än den faktiska materiella inverkan på våra kroppar. Något som länge ansetts vara helande kan plötsligt ses som skadligt – en dualitet som jag gett uttryck för i min gestaltning. Den mångbottnade upplevelsen av dessa hot har en förmåga att påverka varje del av våra liv. För att ge en upplevelse av kontroll och avdramatisera kroppens sårbarhet skapar vi undermedvetet nya beteendemönster, eller förändrar hela vår verklighetsuppfattning. Men vad händer om vi förlikar oss med det som rör sig i det undermedvetna? Kan vi internalisera vetskapen om kroppens sårbarhet? / What work environment do we encounter as artists? What can our bodies handle? In my artistic exploration, I have taken an interest in the risks we expose ourselves to in our work environment at Konstfack. Everyday life in the workshops brings many examples of the challenges our bodies face. We like to test new technologies, new materials, plastics, and chemicals with strange new properties to deal with. The body, the material, and the work environment have been central in my process, but perhaps above all the question of why we are so happy to ignore the risks we expose ourselves to. How do we deal with the knowledge of these threats on a psychological level? Through sculptural techniques and choice of materials, I have explored the airborne threat, a subject that leaves room for subjectivity. It is the idea of a threat, something abstract and invisible, sometimes tangible, sometimes not. What we choose to believe in can in some cases have a more significant effect than the actual material impact on our bodies. Something that has long been considered healing can suddenly be seen as harmful – a duality that I have expressed in my artistic exploration. The multifaceted experience of these threats has the ability to affect every part of our lives. To give an experience of control, and downplay the subconscious presence of the body's vulnerability we create new behavior patterns or change our entire perception of reality. But what happens if we come to terms with what moves in the subconscious? Can we internalize the knowledge of the body's vulnerability?