Abstract
Similarly to other Latin American countries, urban air quality is a major concern in Colombia. The purpose of the present study was to explore citizens’ perception on local air pollution, its causes and impacts. A questionnaire was individually applied to a sample of 994 participants. Relationships between demographic features and the perception on air quality were analyzed using a logistic regression, its odds ratio (OR), and a Chi-square test. Eighty percent of the respondents perceive their local air quality as either bad or fair, 65% recognize particulate matter as the main local air pollutant, and 90% recognize negative impacts on people’s health as the main consequence of air pollution. In contrast to other studies where age and economic status are variables highly related with public perception on the level of atmospheric pollution, in this study only the size of the cities has a statistically significant relationship with the perception on local air quality regarding the level of pollution(OR ≥ 1, confidence intervals > 1 and p-values < 0.05). While area sources such as mining and infrastructure construction are identified as the main sources of pollutant emissions in small towns (less than 50,000 inhabitants), in big cities, road traffic is identified as the main source contributor to atmospheric pollution. Opposite to data from official reports, and regardless of the size of the city, households are perceived as the place with greatest contribution to personal air pollution exposure. Results show that citizens are aware of the state of air quality and its health impact is a major concern. Such findings suggest people’s opinions can be used as provisional indicators in cities without data, as well as to monitor the results of local air quality management. As a complementary process, or at the same level of importance given to technical-based policy, citizen participation can contribute to a collective construction of urban air pollution control strategies.
Highlights
In Colombia, as in other Latin American countries, urban air pollution is a major concern [1] [2] [3] [4]
In contrast to other studies where age and economic status are variables highly related with public perception on the level of atmospheric pollution, in this study only the size of the cities has a statistically significant relationship with the perception on local air quality regarding the level of pollution(OR ≥ 1, confidence intervals > 1 and p-values < 0.05)
More than 95% of the participants live in households classified in socio economic strata 1, 2 or 3, with strata 2 being the one with highest percentage (44.9%)
Summary
In Colombia, as in other Latin American countries, urban air pollution is a major concern [1] [2] [3] [4]. In many Colombian urban areas, public health authorities indicate that respiratory illness is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years of age and represent one of the top causes of mortality across the entire population [11] [12] [13]. This condition has aroused the interest of the academia and scientific community to support the identification and characterization of the air pollution problem in different Colombian cities [14]. Such studies have supported the technical formulation of public policy strategies aiming at improving air quality
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