Dr. Rotem Dvir, Assistant Research Scientist, ISTPP Director Dr. Arnold Vedlitz, and ISTPP Fellows Dr. Xinyue Ye published a paper about environmental hazards risk perceptions in the journal Urban Informatics (Worried (and) sick: how environmental hazards affect Americans’ health-related risk attitudes). The study, conducted as part of the Texas Center for Environmental Health Research (funded in part by NIEHS grant P30ES029067) focuses on identifying the different factors that shape public health-related risk perceptions of under-explored environmental threats like water and air pollution, soil contamination and toxicants release.
The study adjusts a common Climate Change Risk Perceptions Model and proposes important roles for factors like knowledge of hazards and their impact, personal health conditions and the social context. The analyses of data from a national sample reveal higher health-related risk perceptions among individuals with pre-existing health conditions and greater knowledge of environmental threats. Conversely, individuals in communities with robust social connections report lower risk attitudes. An in-depth analysis of a subset of at-risk communities demonstrates the critical role of structural conditions like high levels of air pollution in exacerbating public health attitudes.
