4. In an industrial area where 300 industries are located, a survey has been conducted to study the extent of environmental pollution caused by the industries.75% of the industries were covered to collect the data. What is the Population and Sample size of the survey
Answers
Explanation:
Developing countries have limited air quality management systems due to inadequate legislation and lack of political will, among other challenges. Maintaining a balance between economic development and sustainable environment is a challenge, hence investments in pollution prevention technologies get sidelined in favor of short-term benefits from increased production and job creation. This lack of air quality management capability translates into lack of air pollution data, hence the false belief that there is no problem. The objectives of the study were to: assess the population’s environmental awareness, explore their perception of pollution threat to their health; examine the association between specific health hazards.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was implemented by gathering quantitative information on demographic, health status, environmental perception and environmental knowledge of residents to understand their view of pollution in their neighborhood. Focus group discussions (FGDs) allowed for corroboration of the quantitative data.
Results
Over 80% of respondents perceived industrial pollution as posing a considerable risk to them despite the fact that the economy of the area largely depended on the factory. Respondents also argued that they had not been actively involved in identifying solutions to the environmental challenges. The study revealed a significant association between industrial pollution as a risk and, perception of risk from other familiar health hazards. The most important factors influencing the respondents’ pollution risk perception were environmental awareness and family health status.
Conclusion
This study avails information to policy makers and researchers concerning public awareness and attitudes towards environmental pollution pertinent to development and implementation of environmental policies for public health.
Keywords: Environmental, Perception, Industrial, Air, Pollution, Risk, Rural
Background
Most developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, do not have air quality management systems because of inadequate legislation, budgetary constraints and lack of political will, among other things [1]. In these regions, there is a major challenge in maintaining a balance between economic development and a sustainable environment; hence investments in pollution prevention technologies like emission controls are commonly outweighed by the short-term benefits that accrue from increased production and job creation. The lack of air quality management capabilities in these regions translate into lack of air pollution data, which in most cases gives the false belief that it is not a problem. This however, is not the case and only further conceals a major public health crisis in the developing world.
More and more people are concerned about environmental hazards and the resultant adverse health effects on humans and the environment at local, regional and global levels [2-5]. For example, since the publication of Rachel Carson’s [6] book Silent Spring, public fear and concern over cancer from chemicals such as pesticide residues in food are on the increase. Pollution (air and water) adversely impact the environment and the effects frequently spread well beyond geographical borders. Since the establishment of the United Nations Environment program (UNEP) in 1972 with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, national and international focus has been on environmental health effects of pollution, especially water pollution. While progress has been made in reducing sanitation related diseases like diarrhoea in the developing world, little has been done to combat the negative health effects of increased industrialization and resultant pollution.