Identification, understanding, and response: exploring the exposure experience.

Permanent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20199944
Title:
Identification, understanding, and response : exploring the exposure experience
Creator:
Judge, J. Matthew (Author)
Contributor:
Brown, Phil (Advisor)
Wylie, Sara (Committee member)
Faber, Daniel (Committee member)
Language:
English
Publisher:
Boston, Massachusetts : Northeastern University, 2015
Date Accepted:
December 2015
Date Awarded:
January 2016
Type of resource:
Text
Genre:
Dissertations
Format:
electronic
Digital origin:
born digital
Abstract/Description:
The modern world is so thoroughly chemicalized that chemical contamination is the expected state of being, yet only some people discover their exposure. This dissertation is about the exposure experience; the process by which people come to discover, understand, and respond to their chemical exposure. Chemical exposure takes place at the intersections of science and technology, health and medicine, economic production, governmental regulation, and everyday life. This means that exposed peoples must take multilevel action at these intersections to develop meaningful responses to their contamination. This dissertation explores the case of one Appalachian community's struggle with Perfluorooctanoic Acid in order to highlight these multilevel actions and contribute to the exposure experience concept. It finds that the exposure experience is an information driven process which forms a cycle of understanding development and response such that each new action or information source can bring new meaning and new response actions. Based on this finding it is argued that research into cases of human chemical contamination need a longitudinal component in order to better capture the complexity and on-going nature of the exposure experience.
Subjects and keywords:
biomonitoring
community action
contamination
exposure
response
Social action -- Appalachian Region -- Case studies
Environmental protection -- Appalachian Region -- Citizen participation -- Case studies
Industrial toxicology -- Social aspects -- Appalachian Region -- Case studies
Environmental monitoring -- Appalachian Region -- Case studies
Fluorocarbons -- Environmental aspects -- Appalachian Region -- Case studies
Perfluorooctanoic acid -- Environmental aspects -- Appalachian Region -- Case studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17760/D20199944
Permanent Link:
http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20199944
Use and reproduction:
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