Perceptions of Environmental Risks and Environmentally Friendly Behaviors—Part One. Results of the 2019 Santé publique France Barometer

The 2019 and 2021 editions of the Santé publique France Barometer include questions on the environment and health. In 2019, the survey addressed a first set of topics related to environmental situations where the public is able to take action to limit potential health risks. This capacity to act may have been developed through information or awareness-raising efforts, such as the dissemination of knowledge or prevention campaigns. This summary highlights a sense of being well-informed and a perception of high risk shared by more than half the population regarding topics for which prevention messages were disseminated in previous campaigns, such as carbon monoxide or artificial UV radiation. These perceptions are less widespread among the population regarding more emerging topics such as endocrine disruptors and cosmetics. Future awareness campaigns could focus on highlighting the risks associated with these topics where information is most lacking, particularly endocrine disruptors, and target the least informed populations, such as younger people. The implementation of such campaigns can only be encouraged given the associations observed here between the sense of being informed, risk perception, and the adoption of behaviors beneficial to the environment and health—such as the link between the consumption of organic foods and perceptions of pollutants in food. This study thus identified that certain public health or environmental quality awareness messages may have influenced the population’s sense of being informed and their perception of risks regarding environments over which they have the capacity to act. These perceptions may also have been influenced by public health, land-use planning, or urban planning policies that provide knowledge and opportunities for action in response to these considerations.

Author(s): Mathieu Arnaud, Soullier Noémie

Publishing year: 2021

Pages: 18 p.

Collection: Studies and Surveys

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