Abstract
When the Turin incinerator went into operation in 2013, it was accompanied by surveillance of health effects that included a human biomonitoring survey of 394 residents. They responded to items investigating their awareness of environmental and health issues and perception of environmental health risks. In this study, we compared the questionnaire responses before plant startup and at 3 years of operation. To accomplish this, we investigated changes in perceived risk and evaluated the efficacy of communication strategies. A total of 344 participants equally distributed in an exposed and an unexposed group responded to the follow-up questionnaire. Survey items investigated the perception of a relationship between illness and exposure to environmental pollution, feeling at risk of developing an illness, and concern about natural and anthropogenic hazards. The proportion of ‘certain’ and ‘very probable’ responses was compared to the total using the difference-in-differences method. Analyses showed an overall decrease in the differences between the two groups, which suggests that the communication actions undertaken for the exposed group were effective. Future communication plans should also include initiatives targeting the unexposed group.
Highlights
Risk perception of the health impact of waste incinerator emissions is generally very high [1,2], often assuming greater dimension in relation to the risks involved [3,4]
We evaluated the effectiveness of risk communication strategies by comparing the responses to a risk perception questionnaire, which residents completed before and at 3 years into the operation of the incinerator
Before WTE startup, there was great concern about health risks, for cancer, leukemia, and congenital defects, which are rare events, but there was evidence in the literature as adverse health effects associated with old plants emissions [22,23]
Summary
Risk perception of the health impact of waste incinerator emissions is generally very high [1,2], often assuming greater dimension in relation to the risks involved [3,4]. Risk perception of environmental factors can be interpreted as a combination of objective (e.g., levels of real exposure to a hazard) and subjective factors (e.g., assessment arising from education, culture, values, personal beliefs, perception of reality) [5]. Risk perception differs by cultural background [6], social, political, and decision-making dynamics [4,7], and trust in the company that operates the plant and the public agencies responsible for its surveillance [8,9]. Effective risk communication can play a pivotal role in the management of potential conflicts between institutions and population, especially where public concern is high, but the potential risk is quite low [11,12]. Incinerator hazards is a deeply felt topic since waste combustion processes
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