Abstract
Risk perception (RP) evaluation during pregnancy and its relationship with lifestyles are considered useful tools for understanding communities living in high-risk areas and preventing dangerous exposure. It is well known that exposure to pollutants and less-healthy lifestyles may result in increased disease occurrence during life. Our work investigated environmental RP through ad hoc questionnaires administered to 611 mothers within the NEHO birth cohort, recruited in three heavily contaminated areas of Southern Italy. Four different RP indices, an exploratory factorial analysis (EFA), and a latent class analysis were evaluated from questionnaires. The highest values of risk perception index were observed in the Milazzo site (0.64 ± 0.16) and the lowest in the Crotone site (0.5 ± 0.18). EFA revealed four latent factors, including different items describing environmental pollution, and subjects were classified into four latent classes with different RP indices. Significant RP profiles were different among the sites (p < 0.001). Our results did not demonstrate any association between RP and lifestyles during pregnancy. Improving healthy lifestyle behaviours, particularly in polluted areas, would generate co-benefits by preventing further risk factors. As remediation interventions can take a long time, it needs to improve healthy lifestyles in residents until remediation is completed.
Highlights
The relationship between industrial pollution and human health is of extreme relevance for public health
Between January 2018 and January 2020, the NEHO cohort enrolled, on a voluntary basis, 845 pregnant women living in the 3 national priority contaminated sites (NPCSs) of Crotone, Priolo, and Milazzo in the Mediterranean area of Southern Italy, along with pregnant women living in surrounding areas, outside the perimeter of the NPCSs but presenting similar geographic and socio-demographic characteristics [25]
Our analysis provided results and tools for developing ad hoc questionnaires to investigate risk perception (RP) in relation to individual characteristics in a population living in high-risk areas
Summary
The relationship between industrial pollution and human health is of extreme relevance for public health. Living in proximity to industrially contaminated sites (ICSs) and being exposed to increasing concentrations of environmental pollutants, along with disadvantaged social and economic conditions, result in an increased occurrence of diseases during both childhood and adulthood [1,2,3]. The European Environment Agency [4] has certified that air pollution, noise, bad smells, and traffic have a severe impact on a population’s health, and that human activities (mainly in the sectors of industry, energy, and transport) produce relevant environmental pressures [5,6,7]. Pregnant women living in highly contaminated sites can be exposed through distinct pathways, and children’s health may be affected by a wide range of pollutants [8,9].
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