Inequality of Low Air Quality-Related Health Impacts among Socioeconomic Groups in the World of Work

Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen (), Salvatore G. P. Virdis and Ekbordin Winjikul
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Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen: Department of Development and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
Salvatore G. P. Virdis: Department of Information and Communication Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
Ekbordin Winjikul: Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Changes, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: This research aimed to assess the perceptions of air quality and health symptoms caused by low urban air quality among vulnerable socio-economic groups in the world of work in Bangkok, Thailand through a questionnaire survey of 400 workers of both formal and informal sectors in the five districts with different socio-economic characteristics and levels of air pollution. The findings showed symmetry between air quality-monitoring data and health symptoms of different socio-economic groups but asymmetry between air quality-monitoring data and people’s perceptions of air quality in their areas. It also showed inequalities of low air quality-related health impacts on socio-economic groups in the world of work. People working near the streets, highways, and industrial zones tended to have more health symptoms related to low air quality, and informal sector workers faced more health risks than formal sector workers. The study appeals for effective air pollution communication to enhance the public and informal sector worker population’s literacy of air pollution, the sources of air pollution and its critical health impacts, and the available and sufficient primary care organizations and community health care centers to address work-related health needs to reach the informal sector worker population.

Keywords: air pollution perceptions; health symptoms; informal sector workers; Bangkok (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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