Hatim Matooq Badri and Wahaj A. Khan
Abstract
Air pollution is considered to be a major public health concern and the most important environmental health issue facing humanity today. Due to the importance of air pollution and its well-known negative effects on health, this study aimed to investigate peopleââ¬â¢s perception towards air pollution in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study design was used with an online questionnaire distributed via social media platforms. The 411 participants who completed the questionnaire had a mean age of 38 ñ14 years and came from different cities in Saudi Arabia. In terms of participants general environmental concerns, 64% believed that air pollution is the major environmental issue in Saudi Arabia. Around 35% and 30% of participants perceived air pollution as dust and smoke respectively. Participants believed that natural dust was the major source for air pollution in their city (42 %) followed by transportation (33 %), local industries (20 %) and other sources (6 %). More participants reported feeling air pollution more during the day (46 %), followed by those who felt that it is present during both day and night (27 %), and more during the night (10 %). The majority of participants (67 %) believed weather does have an effect on air pollution and of that majority, most (57 %) believed that air pollution is worse during the summer, some (7 %) believed that it is worse during winter, others (4 %) believed that it is worse in both seasons and a minority (14 %) believed that weather doesnââ¬â¢t have an effect air pollution. The findings provide insight into peopleââ¬â¢s perception of air pollution in Saudi Arabia. Further research that examines the different factors that affect peoplesââ¬â¢ perception is needed.