Deconstruction of annoyance due to air pollution by multiple correspondence analyses

Abstract

Annoyance caused by air pollution is a matter of public health as it can cause stress and ill-health and affect quality of life, among other burdens. The aim of this study is to apply the multiple correspondence analyses (MCA) technique as a differential tooling to explore relationships between variables that can influence peoples' behaviour concerning annoyance caused by air pollution. Data were collected through a survey on air pollution, environmental issues and quality of life. Face-to-face survey studies were conducted in two industrialized urban areas (Vitoria in Brazil and Dunkirk in France). These two regions were chosen as their inhabitants often report feeling annoyed by air pollution, and both regions have similar industrial characteristics. The results showed a progressive correspondence between levels of annoyance and other active variables in the "air pollution" factor group: as the levels of annoyance increased, the levels of the other qualitative variables (importance of air quality, perceived exposure to industrial risk, assessment of air quality, perceived air pollution) also increased. Respondents who reported feeling annoyed by air pollution also thought that air quality was very important and were very concerned about exposure to industrial risks. Furthermore, they often assessed air quality as horrible, and they could frequently perceive air pollution by dust, odours and decreased visibility. The results also showed a statistically significant association between occurrence of allergies and high levels of annoyance.

Keywords: Air pollution; Behaviour; Health impacts; Multiple correspondence analysis; Perceived annoyance.