PhD defence A.D. (Arnold) Bergstra

Risks and Risk Perception in an Industrial Area

On Friday, 3 June 2022, A.D. Bergstra will defend his PhD dissertation, entitled: ‘Risks and Risk Perception in an Industrial Area’.

Promotor
Prof.dr.ir. A. Burdorf
Promotor
Prof.dr.ir. B. Brunekreef
Date
Friday 3 Jun 2022, 13:00 - 14:30
Type
PhD defence
Space
Senate Hall
Building
Erasmus Building
Location
Campus Woudestein
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Dissertation in short:

People living in the immediate vicinity of industrial activities can be exposed to air pollution, such as particular matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen oxide (NOX), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), which can cause different health effects (e.g. asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and mortality). The release of air pollution can take place under stable conditions (average exposure) and during accidents in plants, disruption of production, or during transportation of hazardous materials (peak exposure possible). Despite that the impact of localised air pollution from industry activities is a major concern in some areas, the influence of air pollution from industrial activities on health has been understudied. The same applies to studies about the influence of risk perception on the association between industrial pollution and self-reported health symptoms, and studies about the influence of risk perception on protective behaviour of bystanders during accidents involving hazardous materials.

Therefore, the following research objectives were addressed in this thesis:

  1. To investigate the influence of air pollution from industrial activities on health.
  2. To investigate the influence of citizens’ risk perception, related to industrial activities (including incidents), on (protective) behaviour.

Chapters 2-5 deal with the first research objective and chapters 2, 6 and 7 deal with the second research objective.

More information

The public defence will begin exactly at 13.00 hrs. The doors will be closed once the public defence starts, latecomers may be able to watch on the screen outside. There is no possibility of entrance during the first part of the ceremony. Due to the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.

A live stream link has been provided to the candidate.

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