Relationship between Location-Wise Air Quality and Public Perceptions in Dhaka City

Abstract

Air pollution due to particulate matter (PM) is perhaps the most significant environmental risk factor for human health. It is inevitable to incorporate public opinion in setting up air quality standards and policy formulations. There had been very few instances where public opinion is taken into considerations, especially in the least developed and developing countries to estimate the level of exposure. The present paper introduces an approach to determine the health impact of air pollution, assessing the relationship between the variation of location, exposure duration, and public opinion. A cross-sectional study following the psychometric paradigm method by a convenient sampling technique was carried out at four sites of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. A total of 200 people (50 people from each location) of different age groups and gender were interviewed in the survey. Air quality data was obtained from fixed-site monitoring stations and low-cost air quality monitoring sensors after necessary validation with equivalent standard equipment. An extensive statistical analysis was carried out using MS Excel and  IBM SPSS software. In the end, A chi-square test was performed to check the relationship between location-wise air quality and seven probable health risks related to PM concentration. Results show that 80.5 percent of the respondents opined that they are very much affected by air pollution. It is found that 94.5 percent of the total respondents considered emissions from motor vehicles as the most common cause of pollution. A strong association was found between skin disease and location-wise level of exposure ( Cramer's V=.43). However, four risks were moderately dependant, and two were weakly dependant on location. Cross-examining the air quality data and public perception, it was evident that health risk is highest at the location of maximum pollution. This paper highlights only seven indicators of health risks. A further epidemiological and clinical study is needed to conform to the results of this study.