Abstract
The present work is a cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the risk perception and evaluating the community outrage linked to environmental factors among a self-selected sample of citizens living in an area characterized by the presence of industrial structures of high emotional impact. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to the population by publishing a Google form URL code in local and regional newspapers and via social media. The resulting data were entered on Excel and analyzed. Qualitative variables were summarized with absolute and relative (percentage) frequencies. The results showed that the event that causes the greatest worry was air pollution, with 92.6% of the respondents stating that they perceived the problem as “very” or “quite” worrying. Furthermore, all the health problems investigated in relation to environmental quality aroused concern among the interviewees, with 93.1% believing there was a cause-effect relationship between environmental quality and health. Overall, as other studies had previously underlined, the survey shows that the perceived risks are not always in line with the real ones, Thus, it is imperative to articulate interventions aimed at offering the population objective tools to enable them to interpret the risks themselves. In this regard, a fundamental role is played by adequate communication between the competent bodies and political decision-makers and the population.
Highlights
The relationship between environment and health is of extreme relevance in Public Health.According to the World Health Organization (WHO) [1], 23% of all deaths globally are attributable to environmental factors, and several diseases could be avoided if we lived in healthier environments.In particular, according to the European Environmental Agency [2], poor air quality causes 6.5 million premature deaths worldwide, 620,000 of which are in the WHO European Region
Environment Agency [3] certifies that noise and air pollution continue to have a serious impact on the health of the population, and human activities are a source of strong environmental pressure [4,5,6,7]
On the basis of these premises, this work is a cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the risk perception and evaluating the community outrage linked to environmental factors among a self-selected sample of citizens living in an area characterized by the presence of industrial structures of high emotional impact
Summary
According to the European Environmental Agency [2], poor air quality causes 6.5 million premature deaths worldwide, 620,000 of which are in the WHO European Region. Environment Agency [3] certifies that noise and air pollution continue to have a serious impact on the health of the population, and human activities (mainly the key sectors of industry, energy, transport, agriculture) are a source of strong environmental pressure [4,5,6,7]. The growing awareness of the health impacts caused by the alteration of environmental conditions by anthropic activities, such as industrial expansion near urban areas, atmospheric pollution, and climate change, plays a key role in the judgment and acceptability of the risks related to environmental. Public Health 2020, 17, 4870; doi:10.3390/ijerph17134870 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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