Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2017 Dec 1;601-602:1649-1669. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.187. Epub 2017 Jun 10.
In recent decades the diversity of remediation technologies has increased significantly, with the breadth of technologies ranging from dig and dump to emergent technologies like phytoremediation and nanoremediation. The benefits of these technologies to the environment and human health are believed to be substantial. However, they also potentially constitute risks. Whilst there is a growing body of knowledge about the risks and benefits of these technologies from the perspective of experts, little is known about how residents perceive the risks and benefits of the application of these technologies to address contaminants in their local environment. This absence of knowledge poses a challenge to remediation practitioners and policy makers who are increasingly seeking to engage these affected local residents in choosing technology applications. Building on broader research into the perceived benefits and risks of technologies, and data from a telephone survey of 2009 residents living near 13 contaminated sites in Australia, regression analysis of closed-ended survey questions and coding of open-ended questions are combined to identify the main predictors of resident's perceived levels of risk and benefit to resident's health and to their local environment from remediation technologies. This research identifies a range of factors associated with the residents' physical context, their engagement with institutions during remediation processes, and the technologies which are associated with residents' level of perceived risk and benefit for human health and the local environment. The analysis found that bioremediation technologies were perceived as less risky and more beneficial than chemical, thermal and physical technologies. The paper also supports broader technology research that reports an inverse correlation between levels of perceived risks and benefits. In addition, the paper reveals the types of risks and benefits to human health and the local environment that residents most commonly associate with remediation technologies.
近几十年来，修复技术的多样性显著增加，技术范围从挖掘和倾倒到新兴技术如植物修复和纳米修复。这些技术对环境和人类健康的益处被认为是巨大的。然而，它们也可能构成风险。虽然从专家的角度来看，关于这些技术的风险和益处已经有了越来越多的知识，但对于居民如何看待这些技术在解决当地环境污染物方面的应用的风险和益处却知之甚少。这种知识的缺乏给修复从业者和政策制定者带来了挑战，他们越来越多地寻求让这些受影响的当地居民参与选择技术应用。本研究在更广泛地研究技术的感知收益和风险的基础上，结合了对澳大利亚 13 个污染场地附近 2009 名居民的电话调查数据，对封闭式调查问题进行回归分析，并对开放式问题进行编码，以确定居民对健康和当地环境的感知风险和收益的主要预测因素。这项研究确定了一系列与居民的物理环境、他们在修复过程中与机构的互动以及与居民对人体健康和当地环境的感知风险和收益相关的技术有关的因素。分析发现，生物修复技术被认为比化学、热力和物理技术风险更小，益处更大。本文还支持更广泛的技术研究，该研究报告了感知风险和收益水平之间的反比关系。此外，本文还揭示了居民最常与修复技术相关的对人类健康和当地环境的风险和益处的类型。
