The particle/wave pollution problem: Reconceptualizing residues and radiation as modes of contamination

Abstract

Conventional pollution science and policy tend to distinguish between ‘risk perception’ as a socio-cultural process and ‘exposure’ as a physical condition. Social scientists problematize this approach for missing the sociomaterial entanglements of pollution and propose the concept of “residues” to theorize “from chemical domains rather than just applying theory to chemical cases” (Boudia et al. 2021, 20). Residues are thereby understood as not just physical elements, but also markers of political and cultural choices, objects of scientific inquiries and governmental regulation with a past, present and future.

However, as we argue in this conceptual contribution, this mode of theorizing pollution misses key features of what we call ‘wave pollution’. Like particle pollution, noise, light emissions, extreme heat and electromagnetic fields are difficult to grasp and impact on bodies and ecosystems in ‘slow’, ‘invisible’ and often contested ways. In contrast to chemical residues, wave-like environmental stressors disappear once their source stops emitting. Comparing social entanglements of electromagnetic waves and aquatic micropollution, we hence argue that the social lives of residues and radiation should be considered as different modes of environmental contamination. In our conclusion we reflect on the implications of this differentiation for risk governance and environmental policy making.