he 1924 Stade de Colombes Olympic stadium, located in north-west Paris, was surrounded by factories, says Catherine Radtka, a historian of science at the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts.
"There were tyre factories, sugar and alcohol refineries and gas plants in the area, emitting fumes, dust and noxious gases," says Radtka. "There were already complaints from farmers at the beginning of the 20th Century…they said the fumes were destroying their crops." Physicians