ED Sciences et environnements
Ex situ experiments to assess and understand the response of young fish stages to environmental conditions
by Sarah BANCEL (EABX - Écosystèmes aquatiques et changements globaux)
The defense will take place at 13h30 - Salle Estuaire INRAE, Unité EABX. 50 Avenue de Verdun 33612 CESTAS - GAZINET
in front of the jury composed of
- Eric ROCHARD - Directeur de recherche - Université de Bordeaux - Directeur de these
- Béatrice GAGNAIRE - Directrice de recherche - IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE/LECO - Rapporteur
- Patrice COUTURE - Professeur - INRS Centre Eau Terre Environnement - Rapporteur
- Emilie RéALIS-DOYELLE - Ingénieure de recherche - INRAE Carrtel - Examinateur
- Gilles ADAM - Chargé de mission - DREAL Nouvelle-Aquitaine - Examinateur
- Olivier GEFFARD - Directeur de recherche - INRAE Riverly - CoDirecteur de these
Global changes are leading to significant biodiversity loss, with chemical contamination being a major factor in these declines, especially in aquatic ecosystems. Active biomonitoring appears as a relevant strategy for the evaluation of environmental contamination and its impact on habitat suitability for aquatic species. Within the WFD framework, the only standardized methods available for water quality chemical assessment are available on invertebrates. This work is part of this context, showing first the lack of standardised approaches for evaluating fish responses to chemical contamination of water bodies. In a context of fish populations' losses, early fish life stages are particularly relevant due to their high sensitivity to contamination and their key role in population recruitment. In this context, two strategies were implemented and applied in the Garonne basin, located is South-western France, in which populations of fish species have significantly declined in recent decades. A preliminary toxic risk assessment was conducted at the basin scale using the PAF method (Potentially Affected Fraction of species). This evaluation revealed an important risk linked with some chemical families, such as pharmaceuticals and metals on fish across the two main axes of the basin. This work also showed a higher toxic risk for early life stages of fish compared to adults and juveniles. Then, an active biomonitoring strategy was developed and implemented on the Garonne river to evaluate the responses of organisms to water quality under controlled temperature and oxygen conditions. This method was first used using two model species: the amphipod Gammarus fossarum at adult and embryonic stages, which is a crustacean commonly used as a sentinel species for environmental monitoring; and the Japanese medaka Oryzias latipes which is a laboratory fish species for the assessment of chemicals toxicity. Experiments with these two models were conducted during spring, which is the reproduction period of many fish species in the Garonne basin. The results showed a strong impact of the river water on the development of O. latipes embryos but only low toxicity-related responses were observed in G. fossarum at both embryonic and adult stages. These experiments demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of the exposure method for the exposure of early life stages to the environment and highlights, through the difference of sensitivity between the two taxa, the relevance of the use of early life stages for water contamination monitoring. This same exposure method was then used to study the response of early life stages of a native fish species, the allis shad (Alosa alosa), whose population numbers in the basin have been very low since the 2000s, to investigate the actual suitability of water of spawning grounds for early life stages of the species. Three experiments were conducted on three different batches of embryos over two years during the reproduction period and showed reduced survival of embryos exposed to the Garonne river compared to the control. These results raise concern about the chemical contamination in the basin and the suitability of water for maintaining the actual population. Finally, this thesis highlights the necessity of considering early life stages in chemical assessment and monitoring of aquatic environments, particularly in a context of important declines of fish populations linked to water contamination.
ED Sociétés, Politique, Santé Publique
Revolutionizing road safety in Lebanon: A multidimensional journey from a comprehensive analysis of challenges to data integration and driver behavior enhancement
by Dalal YOUSSEF (Bordeaux Population Health Research Center)
The defense will take place at 14h00 - salle ISPED, Universite de Bordeaux
in front of the jury composed of
- Louis-Rachid SALMI - Professeur émérite - Université de Bordeaux - Directeur de these
- Simone MATHOULIN-PELISSIER - Professeur des universités - praticien hospitalier - Institut de santé publique, d'épidémiologie et de développement (ISPED), Universite de Bordeaux - Examinateur
- Yarob BADR - Professeur associé - Universite Saint Joseph, Beyrouth - Examinateur
- Pascale SALAMEH - Professeur associé - Universite Libanaise, Liban - CoDirecteur de these
Road traffic accidents, a global public health and socio-economic concern, claim 1.35 million lives annually worldwide. Lebanon, with a population under 6 million, contends with nearly 1,000 road accident fatalities each year. Challenges are amplified by population growth, increased household vehicle ownership, deteriorating infrastructure, and the enduring impact of regional conflicts, all further obscured by fragmented data. The dearth of prior research on Lebanese road safety compounds the predicament, impeding informed policy formulation and precise solutions. This thesis embarks on a comprehensive exploration of Lebanon's road safety challenges, endeavoring to fill the critical research gap while contributing to sustainable development. It adopts a multifaceted approach, prioritizing data-driven solutions and validating internationally recognized tools for assessing driver behavior. The thesis unfolds across three pivotal dimensions: an exhaustive examination of Lebanon's current road safety management, the validation of internationally established tools for gauging driver behavior, and a critical evaluation of the hospital-based Road Traffic Injury (RTI) surveillance system. By interlinking these critical aspects, the thesis strives to provide a holistic, data-centric strategy for enhancing road safety in Lebanon. Its ultimate vision extends to safer roads, reduced fatalities, and the evolution of a more sustainable transportation infrastructure. In the first axis, the thesis ventures deep into the layers of road safety management challenges in Lebanon, scrutinizing historical, institutional, organizational, and financial complexities impacting the nation's road safety framework. It examines prevailing policies, enforcement mechanisms, budget allocations, and furnishes evidence-backed recommendations aimed at elevating road safety and sustainability in Lebanon. This comprehensive analysis underscores the urgent need for the adoption of a holistic strategy that encompasses a wide array of road safety facets cover everything from robust law enforcement and infrastructure enhancements to the sustainable allocation of funding, and active international collaboration. Delving into the human factor, the second dimension focuses on driver behavior, a pivotal element in road safety that has lacked validated assessment tools in the Lebanese context. The thesis champions transcultural adaptation of four measurement scales – Traffic Locus of Control, Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, Driver Anger Scale, and Driver Skills Inventory - to comprehend and mitigate unsafe driver behaviors. This intricate process involves translation, cross-cultural adaptation, rigorous validation, and engagement with diverse groups of Lebanese drivers for data collection. Beyond validation, it delves into the interplay between driver behavior, psychological factors, and their influence on road accidents, holding the potential to shape road safety policies and promote safe driving practices in Lebanon. Acknowledging data as the cornerstone of effective road safety management, the third axis confronts the crucial issue of fragmented and incomplete road traffic injury (RTI) data within Lebanon. Disparate data sources across multiple agencies, primarily relying on potentially underreported police records, obstruct comprehensive analysis and effective resource allocation. The thesis explores the hospital-based RTI surveillance system and crafts a blueprint for transitioning to an integrated surveillance system that unifies data collection and analysis. This thesis serves as a transformative blueprint, aiming to forge safer roads, reduce accidents, and enhance the quality of life throughout Lebanon.
FROM BOKE TO GARDANNE, THE EXPERIENCE OF BAUXITE WORKERS THROUGH THE PRISM OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
by Mody DIAW (Environnement, Territoires en Transition, Infrastructures, Sociétés)
The defense will take place at 14h00 - Amphi INRAE-Nouvelle Aquitaine 50, avenue de Verdun 33 610 Cestas
in front of the jury composed of
- Valérie DELDREVE - Directrice de recherche - Université de Bordeaux - Directeur de these
- Antoine ROGER - Professeur - Université de Bordeaux - Examinateur
- Pablo CORRAL BROTO - Maîtresse de conférences - Université de La Réunion - Examinateur
- Astou Diao CAMARA - Docteure - l'Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles à Dakar - Examinateur
- Soraya BOUDIA - Professeure - Université Paris Cité - Rapporteur
- Ivan SAINSAULIEU - Professeur des universités - Université de Lille - Rapporteur
For several years now, the issue of liquid and solid discharges from the extraction of alumina from bauxite by the Alteo Gardanne plant (France) has been a public issue, thanks to the mobilization of environmental associations, user groups in the Calanques and local residents of the plant and the solid waste storage site, who denounce the impacts on the environment and the health of local residents. The way in which the problem is defined by these mobilizations gives it a local dimension (Deldrève and Metin, 2019, while, since the depletion of Provence's bauxite mines, the Alteo alumina plant (previously owned by Pechiney and then Rio Tinto), continues its production by sourcing bauxite from Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), which mines deposits in the Boké region, where communities living near the mines are also denouncing the socio-environmental and health consequences of the national bauxite mining policy. Thus, the trajectory of bauxite gives the problem an international and generic dimension. What's more, while environmental and health issues for communities living close to bauxite mining and processing sites or transport routes are widely publicized from Guinea to Gardanne, those relating to the health and working conditions of the workers who extract, transport and process bauxite remain invisible. Epidemiological studies that have addressed the situation of bauxite workers generally focus on measurements of their exposure to gamma radiation and concentration levels of inhaled dust components in mines and refineries (Brian et al., 2012; Dennekamp et al., 2015). The conclusions of these studies on workers' exposure to risk have given rise to controversy, and their approaches of measuring averages rather than actual exposures have been widely criticized (G. Hecht, 2012), on the grounds that they fail to take into account differences in exposure linked to different work situations. The aim of this sociology thesis, which is part of a multidisciplinary social science research project (Justbaux), is to understand workers' relationship with bauxite and their experience of work and risks. Who are the workers on the bauxite trajectory? What issues of environmental justice and inequality are at stake in their relationship with bauxite? What are their positions with regard to the mobilization of local residents (of which they are sometimes a part) and environmentalists? How do they describe the material and define the problems associated with its use? I hypothesize that people's relationship with bauxite and their experience of the risks associated with its extraction, processing and transport are a function not only of their work situation, the techniques employed and the regulations applied, but also of the status of the workers, their precariousness and their dependence on the company that employs them. To test this hypothesis, I use an analytical framework that borrows concepts from the sociology of work and environmental justice. My approach is qualitative. It includes semi-structured interviews with workers at different stages of the bauxite trajectory, as well as observations of their work situations and activities. This ethnography of work in the mines in Guinea, alongside the transporters, at the bauxite pre-processing plant in Kamsar and at the alumina production plant in Gardanne, will be combined with archive and documentation work.