Information and public health: A case study on lead use

The main aim of Industrial Ecology (IE) is to maintain an adequate balance between industrial development and the safety of natural and human populations. An important element of IE requiring explicit study, therefore, is the critical role of information development, both in the manufacturing process, and more broadly throughout society. In this case study, we investigate these issues with regard to lead (Pb), a well-known polytropous industrial pollutant, in Russia. There exists a structure in Russia to supervise industrial processes using lead. However, this study suggests that a major unrecognized problem is a lack of available information about lead and its effects on the environment and human body for the population and policy-makers. Hygienic and medico-sociological methods were used for testing the environment in a factory producing small electric accumulators and the soldering sections in two radio-electronic enterprises. The study revealed that the effectiveness of developing and diffusing relevant information regarding lead for industrial workers and among the general population is incomplete. The results further suggested that it is necessary to increase employer and population knowledge of environmental and safety issues, and to increase regional administration capabilities and public compliance with appropriate state standards. The importance of understanding information systems that underlay and support environmental and safety performance of industrial systems, especially in countries such as Russia with a heavy manufacturing base, is made clear in this case study, and suggests an important area of research for IE that, until now, may not have received the attention it deserved.