Harmful effect

The harmful effect generally characterizes a fact (a source) perceptible, causing a suffering lived and undergone, but difficult to measure because to some extent subjectively appreciated by that which is exposed there.

For example, the embarrassment or the suffering induced by a Odeur (except marked allergic answer) is not easily measurable, although several systems of evaluation were proposed, including an evaluation by " nose électroniques".

In the case of noise, a Sonometer measurement of the Decibel S, but not embarrassment induced by its chronic repetition, its unforeseeable character, the fact that it can become unbearable the night, in the event of Céphalée, etc

There is no yet largely shared consensual definition concept of harmful effect.

This concept seems in constant evolution, like those of Santé and reached with the health which are more and more often dependant for him.

With the XXe century, the common direction associates with the word harmful effect the idea of disadvantages, rather tiny but causing a real embarrassment undergone by an individual (S), although without real or significant impact on their health. But as from the years 1970, the concept seems to evolve to the idea of a more serious offense to the individual, related to the chronic or episodical exposure to elements or situation unpleasant, harmful with the wellbeing, even with physical and psychic health.

Examples of harmful effects

The exposure nondesired to the noise is most often quoted. The noise is the first source of complaints in many countries. Other common harmful effects are the exposure to dust, smoke, vibrations (Infrason S), with the disturbance (of day or night), with bad smells, with dejections, muds (of which of various purification) or waste, or the exposure to water or polluted air, or to undesirable or intrusive night lighting (in this case if one associates the impacts with it on health, fauna and the ecosystems, one also speaks about luminous pollution).

Concept of harmful effect

The concept of harmful effect evokes:

- Stresses felt by means of one or several of our five directions, whereas the Pollution evokes moreover toxic elements or completely invisible and unperceivable éco-poisons by our directions (cancerogenic, radioactivity, lures hormonal, etc).

- stresses imposed by the human ones on the other human ones, without that which undergoes it being able from it to be withdrawn without being deprived of freedom to enjoy fully and naturally its environment, whereas pollution can also relate to the animals and more largely all the Environnement.

- problems less serious than those evoked by the word pollution . However, of many socio-physio-psychological studies showed that certain harmful effects could cause real physiological problems (nauseas, vomiting, cephalgias, cardiovascular or respiratory disorders, as well as appetite and sleep disorders or sexuality), being able to lead to chronic and serious disorders of the health, of which depressions or suicides.

- a share of subjectivity suitable for the sociocultural and psychological history of each one, which should not hide real individual differences or variable according to the age in the capacities of perception of the noise, the odor, the night light, the vibrations, etc
Les scientific data available seldom allow to decide between the direct impact of the impacts considered related to a psycho-somatization. One notes not-toxicological effects on health, i.e. appearing with amounts lower than the toxicological thresholds.

- a physiological share objectifies , but not very measurable. It is possible and plausible that the human sensory system is more or less (according to the individual and education) ready to detect real dangers in the environment. The strong odor of the liquid manure does not represent it also detection by specialized cells of ammonia or sulfide of hydrogen in the air inspired, pollutant gas with a certain amount for the lungs and the mucous membranes, just as unquestionable odor of smoke, perfume, solvent, gasoline, or tobacco which inform of the real presence of poisons in the air, but which can be lived like pleasant or positive according to the culture and the education of each one).

It was shown that certain odors felt like unpleasant (ex: liquid manures) affected physiological functions, of which the cardiac activity and cerebral, in a visible way on the electrocardiogram and the electroencephalogram and this, at the man as in the animal, which shows that human subjectivity is not alone in question.

One also could note at the Man an increase in the blood-pressure or muscular tension of the scalp, and an inhibition of the gastric motility. Various digesting troubles affecting salivary glands, the stomach, the liver or the intestine are suspected. One observes various harmful reactions on mood and the emotions, and on the intellectual performance (of which capacity of training).

In the animal, acute and chronic effects on the behavior (hormonal modifications, secretion of adrenalin) and the cerebral electric activity, in the presence of weak concentrations of certain chemical poisons in the consumed air or water are noted. Even primitive animals such as the mould have physiological thoughts when set out to certain contaminants with very low dose.

At the Man, the respective shares of psychic subjective (which does not exclude a true suffering) and the physiological one remain difficult to establish, but the physiological share cannot be denied any more, which it is directly dependant on the stress (odor, noise) or on its consequences known as “psychosomatic” human psychism, complex, can according to the individual and the context to exacerbate the stress (vis-a-vis the noise or with the odor of smoke by ex) or to decrease it, dangerously sometimes when there is phenomenon of habituation and/or addiction (cf case of Surdité induced by the noise level of the baffles in concerts or of cars, or lung cancers induced by the smoke of the tobacco).

- possible synergies between various stresses: noise pollutions, visual and olfactive often add again their effects, for example downtown, with the accesses of industrial site, airport, loader-gates, etc

Socio-psychological aspects

An important part of the stress imposed by the harmful effect comes finally owing to the fact that one cannot generally escape from it or to remove the source of it differently than expensively, with difficulty and/or while depriving herself on the one hand of freedom.

Latency

Concerning certain odors and irritating substances, vasomotrices and/or modifying the taste, some organic compounds birds present in the emission-sources can be adsorbed on clothing, the skin, the mucous membranes, or absorptive in blood and fabrics (greasy in particular). Certain people can thus really continue to feel an unpleasant feeling, an odor or a taste a long time (hours, days) after an exposure to these compounds which one can find in the expired air and/or on the skin or in saliva 36,37.

Towards a standardization of the vocabulary

With the appearance in the national right and international of the principle pollutant-payer, of the principles of prevention and precaution, of social responsibility of the companies, the obligations of performance in thermo isolation and phonic, the taking into account of the rights of the nonsmokers, etc it becomes necessary to have shared definitions of the words harmful effect and pollution.

The dictionary (French-speaking) of the standardized vocabulary of the environment of AFNOR specified the definition of the Pollution and the pollutants (alteragenes biological, physical or chemical), but the weak pulling of this work and the fact that it is paying of did not support a broad diffusion.

The specialized search engines of the Internet show that the definition of " nuisance" includes more and more the concept of Danger for the Santé or the environment in addition to that of embarrassment which was allotted to him.

Certain definitions gather under this word of the “ elements of the physical environment or the environment likely to carry reached or to deteriorate more or less brutally and deeply the biological and landscape balance of a medium and to modify the living conditions of the exposed populations. ” Including “ facts of Pollution ”.

Legal definitions

The concept of harmful effect is used in the right of the majority of the French-speaking countries, with meanings which strongly vary according to the texts in question, according to the time, the context and interpretation (cf Jurisprudence).

Example: In Canada, at the beginning of the 20th century, the word can take a particular direction when associated with the qualifier with “public”. “ a public harmful effect ”, known as article 221 of the criminal Code, is “ an illegal act or the omission to fill a legal duty, which act or which omission causes to endanger the life of people, safety, healthiness, the goods or the wellbeing of the public, or which causes to obstruct or to block the public in the exercise or the pleasure of a right common to all the subjects of Its Majesty ”.

Let us note that in France, it is the law on the air which made compulsory the taking into account of the impacts on health by the impact studies.

In 2006, in the United Kingdom, a law for the first time criminalisé the luminous harmful effects, making it possible an individual to carry felt sorry for against a neighbor imposing a night lighting to him, by explicitly mentioning the possible impacts on health, but without employing the expression " luminous Pollution " (light pollution)

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