Kondo, Michelle C., PhD., Chris Mizes, John Lee M.P.H., Jacqueline McGady-Saier, Lisa O'Malley, Ariel Diliberto, and Igor Burstyn PhD. 2014. "Towards Participatory Air Pollution Exposure Assessment in a Goods Movement Community." Progress in Community Health Partnerships 8 (3): 291-304. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1636380886?accountid=28525.
Abstract
Background: Air pollution from diesel truck traffic travelling to and from port facilities is a major environmental health concern in areas of Philadelphia such as the Port Richmond neighborhood. Ambient monitoring has limited capability to assess neighborhood- or personal-level exposures to this pollution.
Objectives: We sought to conduct a pilot study using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to assess community environmental health concerns, and measure residents' exposure to airborne traffic-related pollutants (fine particles [PM2.5]).
Methods: The research team established relationships with neighborhood schools and organizations, conducted 24 semistructured interviews, 2 community meetings, and 1 Photovoice exercise. Nine community researchers wore personal monitors that collected PM2.5 in the personal breathing zone for 1 to 3 days over a 6-day period in December 2011.
Results: Air pollution and safety hazards from truck traffic, environmental hazards posed by nearby industry, related community health problems, and environmental assets were four major themes emerging from interviews and discussions. Personal monitoring revealed that smoking and smoke exposure had the most pronounced effect on PM2.5 concentrations, and that personal PM2.5 exposure levels were not related to ambient PM2.5 concentrations reported from stationary monitoring stations in Philadelphia.
Conclusions: Participation in personal air pollution monitoring and Photovoice exercises helped to increase awareness of pervasive mobile- and point-source diesel emissions throughout the neighborhood and develop priorities for action. Monitoring indicated the negative effects of cigarette smoke exposure, and disconnect between ambient- and personal-level PM2.5 concentrations that emphasized the need for more personal- and local-level monitoring. In addition, participatory methods are appropriate to involve lay persons in personal air pollution monitoring.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
Michelle C Kondo is a research Hydrologist with the US department of Agriculture. Her research looks at environmental impacts on health disparities, she also has an interesting research project about the effects of "greening of vacant land" on crime in the area.
John Lee is the Community and Environmental Health Director at the Clean Air Council. He does work with environmental justice in communities, and leads projects relating to environmental health.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
Community members were invited to participate in air pollution data collection by wearing monitors and journaling about what they saw day-to-day. Then, interviews were used to show how community involvement in air pollution management can change perceptions of pollution sources; after participation, people were more interested in taking action and supported and legislation changes to limit pollution. This study also suggests their protocol can be adapted for further community participation projects.
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"the majority of Photovoice photos featured outdoor scenes and showed trucks driving and idling throughout the neighborhood (Figures 2 through 4). One potential explanation is that wearing the monitors throughout their day, and writing their activity patterns, heightened their attention to outdoor sources, and trucks are the most "in your face" of these sources."
"Participants complained about nearby industrial plants that release large plumes of smoke, and suspected that emissions were heaviest after dark so as to go undetected. Other residents also mentioned nighttime plumes of industrial smoke in interviews and at neighborhood events. Regular topics of discussion throughout our research included the presence of abandoned industrial factories that housed potential pollutants, the prevalence of pollutants such as arsenic in the soil below a new housing developments, and the frequent "tire fires" at a large pile of used commercial tires in a lot next to I-95."
"One priority for action was to advocate with the City of Philadelphia to improve enforcement of Philadelphia's anti-idling ordinance, which prohibits more than 2 minutes of idling by HDDTs. Second, community researchers wanted to see transportation signage improved (especially at the base of an exit ramp from I-95) to direct trucks away from neighborhood collector streets and toward major arterials (or to improve enforcement of designated truck routes). Third, the group wanted to be informed about how to report suspicious smoke stack emissions, for follow-up by the appropriate agency."
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
They talk about environmental justice in this paper. The neighborhood they study is disproportionately burdened with air pollution:
"Like other communities along this river, it is burdened disproportionately with environmental hazards.22 I-95 bisects the neighborhood; south of I-95 is a primarily industrial area, and is the location of the Tioga Marine Terminal as well as other large industrial facilities. North of I-95 is primarily residential, with approximately 9,500 housing units per square mile. Port Richmond does not have a high percentage of non-White residents (37%), and more than 30% earn salaries that are at or below the federal poverty level (35%). Ten percent of residents over the age of 16 are unemployed.23"
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
Kondo, Michelle C., PhD., Chris Mizes, John Lee M.P.H., Jacqueline McGady-Saier, Lisa O'Malley, Ariel Diliberto, and Igor Burstyn PhD. 2014. "Towards Participatory Air Pollution Exposure Assessment in a Goods Movement Community." Progress in Community Health Partnerships 8 (3): 291-304. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1636380886?accountid=28525.
Abstract
Background: Air pollution from diesel truck traffic travelling to and from port facilities is a major environmental health concern in areas of Philadelphia such as the Port Richmond neighborhood. Ambient monitoring has limited capability to assess neighborhood- or personal-level exposures to this pollution.
Objectives: We sought to conduct a pilot study using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to assess community environmental health concerns, and measure residents' exposure to airborne traffic-related pollutants (fine particles [PM2.5]).
Methods: The research team established relationships with neighborhood schools and organizations, conducted 24 semistructured interviews, 2 community meetings, and 1 Photovoice exercise. Nine community researchers wore personal monitors that collected PM2.5 in the personal breathing zone for 1 to 3 days over a 6-day period in December 2011.
Results: Air pollution and safety hazards from truck traffic, environmental hazards posed by nearby industry, related community health problems, and environmental assets were four major themes emerging from interviews and discussions. Personal monitoring revealed that smoking and smoke exposure had the most pronounced effect on PM2.5 concentrations, and that personal PM2.5 exposure levels were not related to ambient PM2.5 concentrations reported from stationary monitoring stations in Philadelphia.
Conclusions: Participation in personal air pollution monitoring and Photovoice exercises helped to increase awareness of pervasive mobile- and point-source diesel emissions throughout the neighborhood and develop priorities for action. Monitoring indicated the negative effects of cigarette smoke exposure, and disconnect between ambient- and personal-level PM2.5 concentrations that emphasized the need for more personal- and local-level monitoring. In addition, participatory methods are appropriate to involve lay persons in personal air pollution monitoring.