Environmental Privilege and Denial in a Matter of Concern: Fragrance Restrictions in the Workplace

• In Event: 046 - Section on Environment and Technology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 16. Environment, Health, and Well-being

Abstract

Through the use of consumer products in the practice of everyday life, people help to distribute industrial chemicals and pollution within their local environments. Many people, however, do not realize that their consumption habits may be polluting the air in their own indoor environments. This research examines what happens when people are confronted with information that their practices - in this case wearing and using fragranced products on their bodies and in their work environments - may be contributing to indoor air pollution and negative health outcomes for themselves and their coworkers. It expands upon the constructs of denial (Norgaard, 2011; Auyero & Swistun, 2009; and Opotow & Weiss, 2000) and environmental privilege (Gould, Pellow, & Schnaiberg, 2008; Park & Pellow, 2011) by examining individual reactions to the process of turning taken-for-granted chemicals into matters of concern (Latour,1993) in terms of health and indoor environmental quality.

Author

• Monique Y. Ouimette, Boston College