Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorDalvie, Mohamed Aqielen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorRother, Hanna-Andreaen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorLondon, Leslieen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorWillems, Miekeen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-08T11:47:18Z
dc.date.available2015-12-08T11:47:18Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractShale gas exploration by means of Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) has been on the South African (SA) energy agenda since 2010 as a potential alternative energy source to coalmining. Internationally, the desirability of fracking is debated due to increasing evidence of the environmental and health risks fracking poses. However, experts favouring fracking propose this technology as a greener alternative to conventional energy sources such as coal. Limited scientific evidence is available internationally related to knowledge and risk perceptions of fracking and evidence is limited to studies conducted in the United States (US). South African risk perception studies relates to mining, farming, travelling in SA as a foreigner and sexual behaviour. The president of SA called fracking a 'Game-Changer' using industry jargon in the 2014 presidential address. However, SA has failed to produce exploration regulations to date despite oil and gas companies pushing their agendas. Public participation in the process thus far has been limited. This cross sectional study explored the knowledge, health risk perceptions and information sources related to fracking amongst 102 Central Karoo residents through a household survey. Beaufort West municipality was selected as the study site as this is one of the closestareas to Cape Town demarcated for fracking exploration. This study found that 40% of Central Karoo residents do not know what fracking is or the potential risks and benefits thereof. Media is the main information source of 59% of participants. Only half of participants trust their information sources. Those with more trust in their information sources perceived fracking as posing a greater risk. In contrast those believing fracking to pose a low risk were more likely to trust the government and oil and gas companies. More than half of participants (53%) believe that fracking poses an extreme health risk and 78% thought fracking will harm their health. Most commonly listed causes why fracking will make Karoo residents sick includes water pollution (47.4%) and air pollution (19.6%). Higher education was found to have an inverse relationship with trust in the national government A limitation of this study was that farms could not be randomly selected, affecting the representativeness of the sample. There is a major lack of knowledge pertaining to fracking among those living in the Central Karoo which has important implications for managing the process of public participation in the approval of shale gas exploration.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationWillems, M. (2015). <i>Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15700en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationWillems, Mieke. <i>"Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15700en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationWillems, M. 2015. Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Willems, Mieke AB - Shale gas exploration by means of Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) has been on the South African (SA) energy agenda since 2010 as a potential alternative energy source to coalmining. Internationally, the desirability of fracking is debated due to increasing evidence of the environmental and health risks fracking poses. However, experts favouring fracking propose this technology as a greener alternative to conventional energy sources such as coal. Limited scientific evidence is available internationally related to knowledge and risk perceptions of fracking and evidence is limited to studies conducted in the United States (US). South African risk perception studies relates to mining, farming, travelling in SA as a foreigner and sexual behaviour. The president of SA called fracking a 'Game-Changer' using industry jargon in the 2014 presidential address. However, SA has failed to produce exploration regulations to date despite oil and gas companies pushing their agendas. Public participation in the process thus far has been limited. This cross sectional study explored the knowledge, health risk perceptions and information sources related to fracking amongst 102 Central Karoo residents through a household survey. Beaufort West municipality was selected as the study site as this is one of the closestareas to Cape Town demarcated for fracking exploration. This study found that 40% of Central Karoo residents do not know what fracking is or the potential risks and benefits thereof. Media is the main information source of 59% of participants. Only half of participants trust their information sources. Those with more trust in their information sources perceived fracking as posing a greater risk. In contrast those believing fracking to pose a low risk were more likely to trust the government and oil and gas companies. More than half of participants (53%) believe that fracking poses an extreme health risk and 78% thought fracking will harm their health. Most commonly listed causes why fracking will make Karoo residents sick includes water pollution (47.4%) and air pollution (19.6%). Higher education was found to have an inverse relationship with trust in the national government A limitation of this study was that farms could not be randomly selected, affecting the representativeness of the sample. There is a major lack of knowledge pertaining to fracking among those living in the Central Karoo which has important implications for managing the process of public participation in the approval of shale gas exploration. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa TI - Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15700 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15700
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationWillems M. Health risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15700en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherHydraulic Fracturing (fracking)en_ZA
dc.subject.otherPublic Healthen_ZA
dc.titleHealth risk perception of Karoo residents related to fracking, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPHen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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