Perceived Risk in the Population Living near the Turin Incinerator: Comparison between before and at Three Years of Operation

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 ri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-08, Vol.18 (17), p.9003
Main Authors: Bena, Antonella, Gandini, Martina, Crosetto, Laura, Ivaldi, Cristiana, Procopio, Enrico, Salamina, Giuseppe, Orengia, Manuela, Farina, Elena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropogenic factors
Biological Monitoring
Biomonitoring
Communication
Decision making
Emissions
Environmental Health
Environmental impact
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollution
Exposure
Health risks
Humans
Illnesses
Incineration
Incinerators
Metals
Perceptions
Polls & surveys
Pollutants
Questionnaires
Risk perception
Surveillance
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18179003