‘Living with’ air pollution in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire): a study of risk culture and silent suffering in three occupational areas

Abstract

Ambient air pollution is currently a major environmental health hazard in many urban areas across the African continent. Driven by the increased concentration of human activities in cities, occupational exposure represents one of the main risk factors to disease burden. Consequently, ‘living with’ air pollution is a significant daily life public health issue. In this study, we focus on three specific occupational sites in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, representing different major pollution sources – road traffic, wood fires and waste-burning fires. We explore in particular the social experiences of people exposed to chronic air pollution as well as the distribution of health risks across different occupational sources. We assessed the characterization of the ‘risk culture’ of workers, studying if it varies according to participants’ occupations and how it influenced their exposure. Our analysis combines a qualitative assessment of the ‘risk culture’ of air pollution with the development of a Risk Culture Indicator (RCI). We show firstly that the working conditions and occupational practices in each group shape specific representations of air pollution, varying levels and emphasis within understandings of risk as represented within the RCI scores. We also demonstrate that occupational status in each group plays a role in reducing exposure to air pollution, with those most vulnerable socio-economically remaining the most exposed. Finally, the findings suggest that risk culture is the combination of a tangible experience of air pollution and other risks encountered in daily life, technical mediations shaping that experience (objects and equipment), as well as existing power relationships. These considerations of risk culture should be considered as an integral part in assessment of health risks.