scholarly journals The Power of Perception: Limitations of Information in Reducing Air Pollution Exposure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rema Hanna ◽  
Bridget Hoffmann ◽  
Paulina Oliva ◽  
Jake Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Avoidance Behavior ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
The Past ◽  
Air Pollution Exposure ◽  
High Pollution ◽  
Pollution Exposure

We conduct a randomized controlled trial in Mexico City to determine willingness to pay (WTP) for SMS air quality alerts and to study the effects of air quality alerts, reminders, and a reusable N95 mask on air pollution information and avoidance behavior. At baseline, we elicit WTP for the alerts service after revealing whether the household will receive an N95 mask and participant compensation, but before revealing whether they will receive alert or reminder services. While we observe no significant impact of mask provision on WTP, higher compensation increases WTP, suggesting a possible cash-on-hand constraint. The perception of high pollution days prior to the survey is positively correlated with WTP, but the presence of actual high pollution days is not correlated with WTP. Follow-up survey data demonstrate that the alerts treatment increases reporting of receiving air pollution information via SMS, a high pollution day in the past week, and staying indoors on the most recent perceived high pollution day. However, we observe no significant effect on the ability to correctly identify which specific days had high pollution. Similarly, households that received an N95 mask are more likely to report utilizing a mask with filter in the past two weeks, but we observe no effect on using a filter mask on the specific days with high particulate matter. Although we nd that air quality alerts increased the salience of air quality and avoidance behavior, these results illustrate the difficulty that information treatments face in overcoming perceptions to effectively reduce exposure to air pollution.

Research Insights: What will People Pay for SMS Air Quality Alerts and Will They Avoid Air Pollution in Response?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rema Hanna ◽  
Bridget Hoffmann ◽  
Paulina Oliva ◽  
Jake Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
The Past ◽  
High Pollution

Male, younger, and higher-income respondents as well as those who perceived high pollution in recent days showed greater willingness to pay for SMS air quality alerts. Willingness to pay was uncorrelated with actual recent high pollution. Recipients of SMS alerts indicated having received air pollution information via SMS, along with reporting a high-pollution day in the past week and having stayed indoors on the most recent day they perceived pollution to be high. However, alert recipients were not more accurate in identifying which specific days had high pollution than other respondents. Households that received a free N95 mask were more likely to report utilizing a mask with a filter during the past two weeks but not more likely to report using a mask with a filter on the specific days with high particulate matter.

scholarly journals Air pollution exposure monitoring using portable low-cost air quality sensors

Smart Health ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 100241
Author(s):  
Pranvera Korto¸ci ◽  
Naser Hossein Motlagh ◽  
Martha Arbayani Zaidan ◽  
Pak Lun Fung ◽  
Samu Varjonen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Exposure Monitoring ◽  
Air Pollution Exposure ◽  
Pollution Exposure

scholarly journals Who Could Not Avoid Exposure to High Levels of Residence-Based Pollution by Daily Mobility? Evidence of Air Pollution Exposure from the Perspective of the Neighborhood Effect Averaging Problem (NEAP)

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinlin Ma ◽  
Xijing Li ◽  
Mei-Po Kwan ◽  
Yanwei Chai
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Neighborhood Effect ◽  
Daily Mobility ◽  
Averaging Problem ◽  
Air Pollution Exposure ◽  
High Pollution ◽  
Pollution Exposure

It has been widely acknowledged that air pollution has a considerable adverse impact on people’s health. Disadvantaged groups such as low-income people are often found to experience greater negative effects of environmental pollution. Thus, improving the accuracy of air pollution exposure assessment might be essential to policy-making. Recently, the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) has been identified as a specific form of possible bias when assessing individual exposure to air pollution and its health impacts. In this paper, we assessed the real-time air pollution exposure and residential-based exposure of 106 participants in a high-pollution community in Beijing, China. The study found that: (1) there are significant differences between the two assessments; (2) most participants experienced the NEAP and could lower their exposure by their daily mobility; (3) three vulnerable groups with low daily mobility and could not avoid the high pollution in their residential neighborhoods were identified as exceptions to this: low-income people who have low levels of daily mobility and limited travel outside their residential neighborhoods, blue-collar workers who spend long hours at low-end workplaces, and elderly people who face many household constraints. Public policies thus need to focus on the hidden environmental injustice revealed by the NEAP in order to improve the well-being of these environmentally vulnerable groups.

scholarly journals Genome-Wide Interaction Analysis of Air Pollution Exposure and Childhood Asthma with Functional Follow-up

2017 ◽  
Vol 195 (10) ◽  
pp. 1373-1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Gref ◽  
Simon K. Merid ◽  
Olena Gruzieva ◽  
Stéphane Ballereau ◽  
Allan Becker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Childhood Asthma ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Air Pollution Exposure ◽  
Pollution Exposure

scholarly journals Factors influencing health behaviours in response to the air quality health index: a cross-sectional study in Hamilton, Canada

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Radisic ◽  
K. Bruce Newbold ◽  
John Eyles ◽  
Allison Williams
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Index ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Air Pollution Exposure ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Air Quality Health Index ◽  
Pollution Exposure

Research associating adverse health effects with air pollution exposure is robust. Public health authorities recognize the need to implement population health strategies that protect public health from air pollution exposure. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is a public health initiative that is intended to protect the public's health from exposure to air pollution. The aim of this research was to identify and explain factors influencing AQHI adoption at the individual level and to establish intervention strategies. A cross-sectional survey with both quantitative and qualitative questions was administered in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, during the months of June to October 2012. Logistic regression and the Health Belief Model are used to explore the data. Demographics (gender, age, education, and area of residence), knowledge/understanding, and individual risk perceptions (neighbourhood air effects on health) were found to be significant predictors of AQHI adoption. The perceived benefits of AQHI adoption included protection of health for self and those cared for via familial and (or) occupational duties, whereas the perceived barriers of AQHI adoption included lack of knowledge about where to check and lack of time required to check and follow AQHI health messages. Also, self-efficacy was uncovered as a factor influencing AQHI adoption. Accordingly, increases in AQHI adoption could be achieved via increasing AQHI knowledge among low socioeconomic status females, communicating the benefits of AQHI adoption to “at-risk” populations and implementing supports for males to follow AQHI health messages.

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