Mobile daily diaries to characterize stressors and acute health symptoms in an environmental justice neighborhood

Shamasunder, Bhavna; Chan, Marissa; Navarro, Sandy; Eckel, Sandrah P.; Johnston, Jill

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102849

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Environmental contamination physically harms the health of the residents, but the idea of the toxins is also harmful for mental health ( Page, Petrie, and Wessely 2006 ; Legg et al 2022 ). Additionally, malodor has been associated with increased stress, irritation, annoyance, and poor mental health, as odor is an environmental stressor ( Shamasunder et al 2022 ; Oiamo, Luginaah, and Baxter 2015 ; Radon et al 2004 ; Horton et al 2009 ; Blanes-Vidal et al 2014 ; Asmus and Bell 1999 ; Sucker, Both, and Winneke 2001 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have used daily diaries and have found malodors associated with stress, sneezing, runny nose, alternation of daily activities, negative mood states, and decreased sleep duration ( MacNell, Jackson, and Heaney 2021 ; Heaney et al 2011 ). In-depth interviews have also highlighted how odors limit daily activities of nearby residents, including cookouts, family reunions, socializing with neighbors, gardening, playing, drying laundry outside, and opening windows for fresh air ( Tajik et al 2008 ; Lowman et al 2013 ; Shamasunder et al 2022 ). Additionally, interviews have identified the frustration and injustice that many residents feel when consistently exposed to malodors and when receiving ambiguous statements from officials regarding the odors’ health effects ( Lowman et al 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Residents’ experiences during a hydrogen sulfide crisis in Carson, California

Quist,

Hovav,

Silverman

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background In early October 2021, thousands of residents in Carson, California began complaining of malodors and headaches. The odor was identified as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a noxious odorous gas. H2S was measured at concentrations up to 7000 parts per billion (ppb) and remained above California’s acute air quality standard of 30 ppb for a month, with intermittent elevations continuing for 3 months. After 2 months of malodor in this environmental justice community, the H2S was attributed to a warehouse fire. Research has yielded conflicting results on the health effects of H2S exposure at levels that were experienced during this event. There remains a gap in understanding how people perceive and experience odor emergencies such as this H2S event. Methods Through a community-academic partnership, we conducted 6 focus groups in Carson with 33 participants who resided in the Carson area during the crisis. We sought to understand how this incident affected residents through facilitated discussion on topics including information acquisition, impressions of the emergency response, physical and mental health symptoms, and ongoing impacts. Results The majority of participants were women (n = 25), identified as Latina/o (n = 19), and rent their homes (n = 21). Participants described difficulty obtaining coherent information about the emergency, which resulted in feelings of abandonment. Most participants felt that local government and health care providers downplayed and/or disregarded their concerns despite ongoing odors and health symptoms. Participants described experiencing stress from the odors’ unknown health effects and continued fear of future odor incidents. Residents sought to take control of the crisis through information sharing, community networking, and activism. Participants experienced longer term effects from this event, including increased awareness of pollution and reduced trust in local agencies. Discussion This study demonstrates the necessity of clear, comprehensive, and prompt responses by relevant decisionmakers to chemical emergencies to appropriately address residents’ fears, curb the spread of misinformation, and minimize adverse health effects. Participant responses also point to the benefit of supporting horizontal community networks for improved information sharing. By engaging directly with community members, researchers and disaster responders can better understand the various and complex impacts of chemical disasters and can improve response.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residents’ experiences during a hydrogen sulfide crisis in Carson, California

Quist,

Hovav,

Silverman

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Residents’ experiences during a hydrogen sulfide crisis in Carson, California

Quist,

Hovav,

Silverman

et al. 2024

Environ Health

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Background In early October 2021, thousands of residents in Carson, California began complaining of malodors and headaches. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a noxious odorous gas, was measured at concentrations up to 7000 parts per billion (ppb) and remained above California’s acute air quality standard of 30 ppb for a month. Intermittent elevations of H2S continued for 3 months. After 2 months of malodor in this environmental justice community, a government agency attributed the H2S to environmental pollution from a warehouse fire. Research has yielded conflicting results on the health effects of H2S exposure at levels that were experienced during this event. This research fills a critical need for understanding how people perceive and experience emergent environmental health events and will help shape future responses. Methods Through a community-academic partnership, we conducted 6 focus groups with 33 participants who resided in the Carson area during the crisis. We sought to understand how this incident affected residents through facilitated discussion on topics including information acquisition, impressions of the emergency response, health symptoms, and ongoing impacts. Results The majority of participants were women (n = 25), identified as Latina/o (n = 19), and rent their homes (n = 21). Participants described difficulty obtaining coherent information about the emergency, which resulted in feelings of abandonment. Most participants felt that local government and healthcare providers downplayed and/or disregarded their concerns despite ongoing odors and health symptoms. Participants described experiencing stress from the odors’ unknown health effects and continued fear of future odor incidents. Residents sought to take control of the crisis through information sharing, community networking, and activism. Participants experienced longer term effects from this event, including increased awareness of pollution and reduced trust in local agencies. Discussion This study demonstrates the necessity of clear, comprehensive, and prompt responses by relevant decisionmakers to chemical emergencies to appropriately address residents’ fears, curb the spread of misinformation, and minimize adverse health effects. Participant responses also point to the benefit of supporting horizontal community networks for improved information sharing. By engaging directly with community members, researchers and disaster responders can better understand the various and complex impacts of chemical disasters and can improve response.

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Bridging the Gap: Analyzing the Relationship between Environmental Justice Awareness on Twitter and Socio-Environmental Factors Using Remote Sensing and Big Data

Knoble,

2023

Remote Sensing

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Mounting awareness of the discriminatory distribution of environmental factors has increasingly placed environmental justice at the forefront of discussions on sustainable development, but responses to these disparities are often too little, too late. Remote sensing has emerged as a potential solution to this problem, capitalizing on the ability to capture high-resolution, spatially explicit data in near-real time. However, a conventional reliance on physical measurements and surface-level analyses risks overlooking the experiences and perceptions of affected communities. It is against this backdrop that the potential integration of remote sensing imagery and socially sensed big data such as social media data assumes a novel and promising role. This study aims to discern the feasibility, opportunities, and implications of integrating the spatial insights provided by remote sensing with the experiential narratives shared on social media platforms, bridging the gap between objective environmental data and community-driven perspectives. We explore this subject in two ways, analyzing the geographic relationship between environmental justice Tweets and environmental justice factors, and reviewing Tweets produced during an extensive wildfire. Remote sensing indexes for green and blue space were reviewed and tested, selecting the measures of best fit to act as independent variables alongside traditional environmental justice factors in the broader analysis. Results from regression models indicate a negative relationship between the number of Tweets utilizing environmental justice relevant terms and the presence of ecosystem services as captured by an NDMI, suggesting a broad awareness of injustice and a relationship between remote sensing and social media. However, there is simultaneously a negative relationship between socially vulnerable populations and Tweets with environmental justice words. This suggests that generally, there is discussion on Twitter about injustice when resources are not present, but the voices of vulnerable populations are often less visible, either as a result of urban bias or a lack of concern for injustices due to habitual ignorance. Our study demonstrates the potential for integrating remote sensing imagery and social sensing data to play a substantial role in detecting injustices and corroborating data collected through community science initiatives.

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Mobile daily diaries to characterize stressors and acute health symptoms in an environmental justice neighborhood

Cited by 3 publications

References 38 publications

Residents’ experiences during a hydrogen sulfide crisis in Carson, California

Residents’ experiences during a hydrogen sulfide crisis in Carson, California

Residents’ experiences during a hydrogen sulfide crisis in Carson, California

Bridging the Gap: Analyzing the Relationship between Environmental Justice Awareness on Twitter and Socio-Environmental Factors Using Remote Sensing and Big Data

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