The Psychological Impact of Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Pollution in the Veneto Region, Italy: A Qualitative Study with Parents

Marialuisa Menegatto, Sara Lezzi, Michele Musolino and Adriano Zamperini ()
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Marialuisa Menegatto: FISPPA Department, University of Padova, Via Venezia 14, 35131 Padova, Italy
Sara Lezzi: FISPPA Department, University of Padova, Via Venezia 14, 35131 Padova, Italy
Michele Musolino: FISPPA Department, University of Padova, Via Venezia 14, 35131 Padova, Italy
Adriano Zamperini: FISPPA Department, University of Padova, Via Venezia 14, 35131 Padova, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-22

Abstract: Little is known about the psychosocial impact on people who live in polluted areas, and its consequences for the parental role have been neglected. This study addresses this gap, proposing qualitative research referring to the case of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) water pollution in the Veneto Region of Italy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the chronic exposure contamination (CEC) experience of parents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 parents living in the so-called ‘Red Area’ considered to have had maximum exposure. Grounded theory was used to analyse the data. The three themes to emerge were three phases of a dynamic process: shock around the discovery (phase 1), lifestyle change (phase 2), and living with PFAS (phase 3). The two transitions (loss of innocence and environmental adaptation) linked the phases. Our findings show that PFAS CEC experience is a process whereby parents need to move from the shock of discovery to adapting to the new situation in order to incorporate a change into their daily life, especially in regard to children. Two emerging aspects that characterised the process as a constant were uncertainty and health concerns, while role strains could be a stress source in the context of CEC. We suggest introducing the notion of chronic role strain (CRS).

Keywords: chronic role strain; stress; chronical contamination exposure; family; personal violation; PFAS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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