Abstract

SOTO COLOBALLES, Natalia Verónica. Tensions and coincidences between the health and industrial sectors over the control of atmospheric contamination in Mexico (1970-1980). Dynamis [online]. 2017, vol.37, n.1, pp.187-209. ISSN 2340-7948.

In the l970s, the Mexican government adopted air pollution policies and solutions recommended by international organizations and applied in highly industrialized countries. However, this move was accompanied by controversies on the legislative and administrative framework involving healthcare, air quality management, and industrial sectors, with a large part of anti-pollution action being aimed at industry. Our hypothesis was that persistent problems with air pollution management in Mexico can be attributed to: the lack of belief in each sector on the importance of this issue from the very beginning; and the support by each sector for different concepts of pollution, management and the application of technology. Each stakeholder was driven by economic and political interests that prevented radical solutions. This hypothesis was tested by analysing speeches at the "1st National Meeting on Air Pollution Problems" in 1973, where the priorities of each sector were publicly stated by representatives from the Under-Secretariat for Environmental Improvement of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Chamber of Manufacturing Industry, and the Under-Secretariat of Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Results of this research help to explain why, despite the institutionalization of air pollution management in Mexico for more than 40 years, a simplistic discourse still prevails in which the vehicle park is considered the main cause of the problem.

Keywords : Mexico; environmental history; pollution; industry; air.

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