Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
FAMILY, YOUTH & COMMUNITY SCIENCES
Non Technical Summary
Recent research studies alert us to the severity of negative indoor environmental quality and its impact on occupantsSH_ health. A researcher states that many of the outdoor air pollutants are also found indoors. Furthermore, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that levels of some pollutants inside buildings may be concentrated 25 to 100 times higher than those of outdoors and that indoor air pollution is one of the top five environmental risks to public health. Poor indoor environment quality causes both acute and chronic health problems for occupants. Some of these problems can be as minor as irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Some health problems, however, can be serious enough to result in death. Many of the immediate minor symptoms may be relieved simply by eliminating the source of the pollution or by minimizing the personSH_s exposure to the source. Sometimes the symptoms show up many years after the
exposure, while sometimes the symptoms occur cumulatively, after long or repeated periods of exposure to the pollution. A healthy indoor environment is important for every occupant. But it is most critical to children for a number of reasons. First, childrenSH_s immune systems are still developing, and it is harder for them to recover from illness compared to adults. Second, the same amount of exposure to harmful sources is a relatively larger dose for children than for adults, considering their smaller body sizes. Third, by nature of their normal behavior, children are easily exposed to many sources containing harmful chemicals and pollutants, such as soil and dirty toys. Although children are more seriously influenced by their surroundings, they cannot control environments around them and are dependent on adults to provide a healthy environmental quality. Also, people of any age with temporarily or permanently weakened immune systems are more susceptible to the negative ramifications
of poor indoor environments. Previous research studies focused on the evaluation of current home indoor environments or education programs and perceptions of certain environment pollutants. There were few research studies that explored residentsSH_ attitudes toward the indoor environment issues or demographic influences on perceptions or attitudes toward the issues. A series of resident surveys that are planned to complete this research project will explore both residentsSH_ perceptions and attitudes toward three major indoor environment issues of Florida, and also investigate determinants of the perceptions and attitudes.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
90%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
Americans generally spend the majority of their time indoors. As such, indoor environmental quality is of primary importance for obvious health reasons. Since people have the responsibility of making many decisions regarding their living circumstances, they can have a great influence on indoor environmental quality. Some of these decisions include designing, constructing, purchasing, renting, managing and/or maintaining of their homes and household products. Thus, it is important to provide proper education programs regarding indoor environmental issues. To design an effective education program, it is essential to understand the target audience. The purpose of the study is to better understand perceptions and attitudes of Florida residents toward three indoor environmental issues: lead, mold, and pesticides/other hazardous household chemicals. There are two research objectives: (1) to explore perceptions and attitudes toward lead, mold, and pesticides/hazardous
household chemicals, and (2) to examine relationships among demographic characteristics, perceptions and attitudes. The findings from the study will increase understanding of perceptions and attitude towards indoor environmental issues and determinants of those attitudes and perceptions. These findings will be used to design Extension outreach education programs.
Project Methods
This study will be a five-year quantitative research project using three phases of questionnaire surveys. In each phase, perceptions and attitudes toward each of the three indoor environmental issues (lead, mold, and pesticides/other household hazardous chemicals) will be measured. 1. Timelines Each phase of the survey will be completed in 18 months (1.5 years) focusing on each of lead, mold, and pesticides/other hazardous household chemicals, respectively. Finally, findings from the surveys will be combined, and implications for Extension education programs will be extracted. 2. Instrument Development In each phase, a questionnaire will be developed by the researcher for focusing on each of the three indoor environmental issues based on literature review. Each questionnaire will consist of two parts: (1) Perceptions and attitudes, and (2) general information. The questionnaire will be pretested using local sample in Gainesville, FL. 3. Sampling and Data Collection
Plan There are five Extension districts in Florida: Northwest, Northeast, Central, South Central, and South. For sampling of this study, Northwest and Northeast districts are combined as North Districts and Central, South Central, and South districts are combined as South Districts. In each phase of the surveys, a total of 400 household samples will be drawn from each of the two combined Districts based on their home locations (North Districts or South Districts) and whether or not the household is a participant of current Extension programs (yes or no). On-site surveys will be administered to participants in Extension programs and a mail-in survey will be administered to households who are not participants of the Extension programs. County Extension faculty members will be asked to assist in sampling procedures by helping the researcher conduct on-site surveys with their Extension program participants, and in sampling of mail-in survey targets. To increase the response rate,
incentives may be given to survey participants. 4. Data Analysis Plan Data will be analyzed using various statistical techniques including basic descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests of independence, independent sample t-tests, Person correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses, factor analyses, and cluster analyses.