Risk Communication and Cycling. Potential of video to inform exposure to fine particles

In 2005, the European Commission adopted the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution as an outcome of the programme Clean Air for Europe. This strategy asks member states to carry out more research on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and pollutant dispersion and on the effects of air pollution on health and the environment including long-term European epidemiological studies. Ultrafine particles (UFP) research is a relatively new field of investigation. These particles are so small (less than 0.1 micron in diameter) that they can be inhaled and travel via the blood stream to the inner organs. The risk to humans is not clearly understood yet. To learn more about the effects on the environment and on human health, comparable data from all over Europe are needed. In addition, an adequate risk communication strategy is necessary to inform society about the possible involved risks. In February 2007 IVAM, a firm aimed at research and consultancy on sustainability, initiated a European project called “Visualization of the Exposure of Cyclists to Traffic on Road” (VECTOR). VECTOR aims to assess the actual exposure of fine particles of cyclists under different traffic conditions and to demonstrate a communication strategy by which society becomes aware of the exposure-related health risks. The VECTOR project is a 2.5-year project divided into three phases. First (Feb 2007 – Aug 2007), research in UFP related topics such as health effects and existing regulations in the European Union and risk communication practices. During the second phase (Sept. 2007 – May 2008), actual exposure measurements will be carried out in Germany, Hungary, Lithuania and the Netherlands. The last phase of the project (May 2008 – early 2009), consists of the preparation, execution and the analysis of the communication strategy. This report concisely summarizes the research conducted at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies (IVEM) of the University of Groningen. The research is part of the first phase of the VECTOR project. The research consists of the evaluation of a communication tool used within the communication strategy of the VECTOR project. The communication tool consists of simultaneously showing video recordings combined with measurement results. This is a video exposure monitoring technique known as “picture mix and exposure” (PIMEX). PIMEX has been successfully tested in the occupational health arena but not in communicating exposure of pollutants emitted by mobile sources. In order to assess awareness, we used a semi-structured interview. A total of ten participants were asked for an interview. The participants are civil servants from different municipalities in the Netherlands. The participants work directly in the cycling section of the transport department within their municipality. The interview elaborated for this study uses Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a theoretical framework. PMT has been used to explain the impact of health information. According to this theory, risk perception is the result of two appraisal processes, a process of threat appraisal and a process of coping appraisal, in which the options to diminish the risk are evaluated. The outcome of such evaluation is a behavioural strategy to cope with the risk. We found that the civil servants base their willingness to take action in reducing the exposure of cyclists to UFP on the perception of the risk of being exposed and on the evaluation of the consequences of the exposure. We predict that the risk information that focuses on increasing perceptions of probability and severity helps to increase the willingness to take actions leading to help to a diminished cyclist exposure to UFP. The other option to adopt behaviours aimed at diminishing cyclists’ exposure to UFP is by providing information and means by which civil servants can reduce the exposure. The present work can be used as a baseline report to provide insight in the current knowledge of risk communication and in risk perception. The findings in this report are useful to elaborate a plan for a more extensive evaluation of the video. The theoretical framework used in this report helps assessing the awareness of the different stakeholders involved in the VECTOR project. Finally, we are confident that both, PIMEX and the Protection Motivation Theory, are methods that may be used in similar risk communication projects to make informed decisions to increase awareness of different stakeholders.