Department of Environmental Physics and Meteorology, Faculty of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Campus, Zografou, Building Physics 5, 15784, Athens, Greece.
Medical School, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box: 20537, 2029, Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Int J Biometeorol. 2018 Dec;62(12):2139-2150. doi: 10.1007/s00484-018-1614-3. Epub 2018 Oct 26.
Outdoor air pollution and especially particulate matter pollution is a major environmental health issue that raises concerns of scientists and policy makers. This study focuses on air quality perception in relation to particulate matter in order to find potential patterns. Field questionnaire-based surveys were conducted among pedestrians on two central sites in the city of Athens, Greece, during the winter period while particulate matter of 10 μm or less in diameter (PM) were concurrently measured on-site at 1-min resolution. The participants were asked to evaluate the dust and the overall pollution-related air quality based on 5-point bipolar scales. Air quality perception patterns were explored considering PM concentration, meteorological and thermal conditions, and subjective variables including gender, age, smoking status, and health status. An effect of PM on dust perception was identified, suggesting that dusty air quality conditions are reported more frequently when particulate concentration increases. Health status, exposure time, smoking status, and gender were found to affect air quality perception. Participants experiencing health symptoms, exposed to outdoor conditions for more than 30 min, smokers, and females were more likely to report unfavorable air quality conditions. The comparison with the results of a previous study obtained using air pollution station data confirmed the dependence of air quality perception on participants' characteristics and particularly on their health status. Ordinal logistic regression models showed that for pedestrians who were neither smokers nor experiencing health symptoms and were exposed to outdoor conditions for more than 30 min, a PM concentration around 64 μg·m could be a threshold, to perceive dusty air quality conditions.
户外空气污染，尤其是颗粒物污染，是一个主要的环境健康问题，引起了科学家和政策制定者的关注。本研究关注与颗粒物有关的空气质量感知，以寻找潜在的模式。在希腊雅典市中心的两个地点，冬季期间，使用基于现场问卷的调查对行人进行了调查，同时以 1 分钟的分辨率在现场测量了直径为 10μm 或以下的颗粒物（PM）。参与者被要求根据 5 点两极量表评估灰尘和整体与污染有关的空气质量。考虑到 PM 浓度、气象和热条件以及包括性别、年龄、吸烟状况和健康状况在内的主观变量，探讨了空气质量感知模式。确定了 PM 对灰尘感知的影响，表明当颗粒物浓度增加时，报告灰尘空气质量条件的频率更高。健康状况、暴露时间、吸烟状况和性别会影响空气质量感知。有健康症状、在户外环境中暴露超过 30 分钟、吸烟者和女性更有可能报告空气质量较差。与使用空气污染站数据获得的先前研究结果进行比较，证实了空气质量感知取决于参与者的特征，特别是他们的健康状况。有序逻辑回归模型表明，对于既不吸烟也没有健康症状且在户外环境中暴露超过 30 分钟的行人，PM 浓度约为 64μg·m 可能是感知灰尘空气质量条件的阈值。
