Environmental exposure might mean one of two things: (1) to what is the environment itself exposed; (2) to what environmental contaminants are people exposed? These are related to each other, and either understanding is relevant to the story of Maquilapolis, (City of Factories).
Globalization brought industrialization to Chilpancingo, in northern Mexico, starting in the 1980s (canewsreel.org). The factories—under treaty with Mexico that allows for the duty-free import of component parts and duty-free export of finished products—are called maquiladoras (singular, maquilador); the workers and the system of duty-free foreign factories are also called maquiladoras (singular, maquiladora). The products made at maquiladoras included televisions, pantyhose, intravenous bags, batteries, cell phones, and electronic components (PBS, canewsreel.org). Environmental contamination was introduced to the area with the intrusion of the unregulated maquiladoras (factories)—established with the "government’s apparent collusion with the polluters" (canewsreel.org)—and was compounded when the factories exited (policyinnovations.org, Carnegie Council), leaving behind production related toxic waste (PBS).
In the transcript sections provided, 1st Transcript and 2nd Transcript, several indicators of environmental exposures can be observed from the speakers' accounts of their personal, daily experiences. The first woman brings up the subject of the water, and her comments are corroborated by the second woman. The water is said to be foamy and of several unnatural colors.
The observation of foam and unnatural coloration in the water indicates contaminants from leaked sewage and industrial waste, such as industrial detergents. Although not mentioned in the transcripts, PBS reports leaked sewage and a "toxic stew of chemicals and manufacturing agents" (PBS) running down from the industrial mesa, which, as the second woman says, is upriver from their neighborhood of Chilpancingo: "The 'Industrial City' is on the Mesa, and we’re down below. All their chemicals end up in our neighborhood." Changes in water color are related to many factors, including leaked sewage (which may increase red algae) and dumped industrial toxins as in "slag heaps of toxic material" (PBS).
The first woman also mentions respiratory problems and an inability to breathe. While these symptoms are linked to many environmental contaminants, they are indicative of lead contamination, which is absorbed through inhalation (irritating nasal passages and lungs) and ingestion, usually "accidental ingestion (eating, drinking, and smoking) via contaminated hands, clothing, and surfaces" (OSHA). This links directly to the speaker's remarks in the 2nd Transcript: "you can’t wash your clothes with your children’s, or get close to your kids after you leave work." Children acquire symptoms from contact with working parents because lead contamination is transferred through hands, clothing, and surfaces (as are dioxins, phthalates, and other VOCs, also a problem in the United States).
Liver damage and cancers, such as leukemia, are also directly related to lead contamination. Lead, such as in the lead-based paste mentioned in the 2nd Transcript, is used in the production of batteries, plastics (as in intravenous (IV) tubes), and electronics. Lead is also present in leaked sewage. Skin ailments are linked to industrial toxins, such as "chloronaphthalenes and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)" (Oxford Journal), detergents, metals, and resins (Institute of Occupational Safety, UK).
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