Table 3.
Individual profile of some focus group participants in phase 1 of Fos EPSEAL.
| Participants in the Focus Group | Description of Health Concerns in the Industrial Zone |
|---|---|
| People recruited from door-to-door survey (age decade provided for anonymity purposes) | |
| Female lifetime resident of Fos-sur-Mer (70s) | Did not express a particular health problem but had concerns about environment |
| Male resident of Fos-sur-Mer (20s) | Worker in the industry. Expressed concerns related to exposure at work leading to health problems |
| Male dock worker and lifetime resident of industrial zone (40s) | Worried about prevalence of disease in the industrial zone and especially about exposure at work. Declared during the focus group that he had respiratory problems in his childhood and back problems related to his job |
| Female high school teacher and lifetime resident of the industrial zone (40s) | Is concerned about health problems and pollution especially for the young generations |
| Female lifetime resident of the industrial zone (50s) | Had 3 cancers |
| Female resident of Fos-sur-Mer with her family living in the industrial zone for 3 generations (40s) | Father died from asbestos exposure and she is in the process of being diagnosed with auto-immune disease |
| Male, born in the industrial zone and lived there a total of 25 years (40s) | Previous dock worker with deafness problems and many concerns about his health |
| Female (30s) | Has cancer |
| Resident of Fos-sur-Mer (60s) | Has cancer and a 43-year-old son who works in the industrial zone |
| Nurse (50s) | Work at the local hospital and is concerned about the relationship between health and environment in the industrial zone |
| Male (40s) | In the process of diagnosed for pancreatic cancer |
| Female lifetime resident of the industrial zone (50s) | Has asthma and respiratory disease |
| Male born in Fos-sur-Mer and returns every summer for vacation (60s) | Concerned about pollution in the zone and knows many people in the industrial zone that are ill |
| Experts and local officials | |
| Deputy mayor of Port-Saint-Louis | In charge of the health issues for the city of Port-Saint-Louis |
| Local general practitioner doctors | Both arrived in Port-Saint-Louis 15 years ago from another part of France (Grenoble). Worried about the amount of illness in the town especially respiratory disease, diabetes type 1, and cancers. |
| Local pneumologist | Works in nearby in Arles as well as in Port-Saint-Louis |
| Local oncologist | Works at the local hospital and is interested in health questions especially cancers |
| Physician and reproductive specialist from Marseille | Studies infertility problems in the region of Fos-sur-Mer and in a nearby agricultural zone |
| Engineer from the local air quality monitoring organization (Air PACA) | Interested in air quality issues |
| Physician and epidemiologist from citizen science association in Fos-sur-Mer, Institut Éco-citoyen | Director of health and environment for the Institut Eco-citoyen and concerned about diabetes type 1 in the zone. |
| Director of the Institut Éco-citoyen | Conducting a comparative exposure study of residents in Fos-sur-Mer and another town (Saint-Martin-de-Crau) on the periphery of the industrial zone |
| Activists from trade unions and local environmental organizations | |
| Activist for the ADPLGF (Association de Défense et Protection du Littoral du Golfe de Fos, local environmental organization) and for the trade union CGT (Confédération Général des Travailleurs) | Concerned about infertility problems in the industrial zone |
| Activist for the CGT | Long-time activist for a local organization advocating for the recognition of occupational diseases in the industrial zone. |
| Activist for the CGT | Long-time activist for a local organization advocating for the recognition of occupational diseases in the industrial zone. Has lung cancer but never smoked |
| Activist for a health and environmental organization in the industrial zone | Concerned about health problems in the zone for many years |
| Activist for the ADPLGF | Concerned about health problems for many years |
| Activist for the ADPLGF | Concerned about health problems for many years |
| Activist for the ADPLGF | Concerned about health problems for many years |
| Activist for a health and environmental organization in the industrial zone | Concerned about health problems for many years |
| Activist for the ADPLGF | Concerned about health problems for many years |
| Activist for a health and environmental organization in the industrial zone | Concerned about health problems for many years and was very critical of the state-led health studies published in the industrial zone |