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Out of sight, out of mind: participatory sensing for monitoring indoor air quality

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Abstract

In southern Chile, epidemiological studies have linked high levels of air pollution produced by the use of wood-burning stoves with the incidence of numerous diseases. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study explores the potential of participatory sensing strategies to transform experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and daily routine activities in 15 households equipped with wood-burning stoves in the city of Temuco, Chile. The results suggest that the experience of using a low-cost sensor improves household members’ awareness levels of air pollution. However, the information provided by the sensors does not seem to improve the participants’ self-efficacy to control air quality and protect themselves from pollution. The high degree of involvement with the participatory sensing experience indicates that the distribution of low-cost sensors could be a key element in the risk communication policies.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank María-José Castillo and Iván Leal for their support in collecting the data. The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of the reviewers on the previous versions of the manuscript. We also thank the funder who made this research possible: This paper is part of the projects FONDECYT Iniciación 11150262 and FONDECYT Regular 1190412, funded by the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), Chile.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nucleus of Social Sciences and Humanities. Butamallin Research Center for Global Change, Universidad de La Frontera, Avenida Francisco Salazar, 01145, Temuco, Chile

    Àlex Boso, Boris Álvarez & Álvaro Hofflinger

  2. Department of Environment, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Barcelona, Spain

    Christian Oltra

  3. Department of Social Sciences, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile

    Jaime Garrido

  4. Department of Electronic Engineering, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile

    Carlos Muñoz

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  1. Àlex Boso
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  2. Boris Álvarez
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Boso, À., Álvarez, B., Oltra, C. et al. Out of sight, out of mind: participatory sensing for monitoring indoor air quality. Environ Monit Assess 192, 104 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-8058-z

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